FT MEADE 

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Copyright N° 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 


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They watched him fearfully as he cautiously cut his way 
into the house of Lame Caterpillar 


WONDER-OAK 


BY 

BERTHA CURRIER PORTER 

tr 


ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

MAY AIKEN 



NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 
CINCINNATI : JENNINGS & GRAHAM 


Copyright, 1913, by 
BERTHA CURRIER PORTER 



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4 M 


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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

CHAPTER 1 1 

Chapter II 12 

Chapter III 26 

Chapter IV 45 

Chapter V 58 

Chapter VI 75 

Chapter VII 95 

Chapter VIII 115 

Chapter IX 132 

Chapter X 147 


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ILLUSTRATIONS 


They watched him fearfully as he cautiously cut 


his way into the house of Lame Caterpillar. . . . Frontispiece ^ 

PAGE 

The little Princess waked and laughed into the face of 
the Godmother Facing 8 

And Chickadee stood on his head again 15 S' 

The fat little Partridge Berry Twins crawled up hand in 

hand and leaped with a little shriek 30 ^ 

Suddenly the whole outside wall gave way, and crashed in 
onto the mushroom seats Facing 35 ^ 


John clambered up the hill, one red-mittened hand pro- 
tecting the fairy children, the other dragging the sled ... 43 S 

The drill over, Columbine stepped back to his place at the 
head of the Guards, and Godmother arose. “Guardians 
of the Tree-Buds,” she called Facing 55 ^ 

It was a great treat for the fairy children to . . . sit up 
late in the evening and watch Lieutenant Primrose com- 
manding . . . the Luna Moths 60 

Then Crystal seized the other side of the skin, and they 
all pulled together 68 

At Columbine’s word of command, the procession started 


Facing 82 ✓ 

Dusky Moccasin Flower stepped forward and looked 
closely at Crystal Facing 88 

The June Bugs began a blundering, clumsy dance, buzzing 
loudly and flying nearer and nearer the King 92 


v 


VI 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Closed Gentian only shook her head and murmured, 
drowsily: “I have not seen anyone. I had my eyes 
shut.” 110 

As . . . Grobbo leaped ashore, the Partridge Berry Twins 
pushed their way through the thick shrubs, hand in 
hand, and carrying the fireflies that he had sent to 
Crystal 117 

Trillium and his warriors flew southward and overtook 
Summer, already far from the Fairy Wood 137 

Skunk Cabbage . . . sat in the courtyard, greeting his 
old friends 151 

Berry Red was now clinging to his arm, while Red Berry 
wept on Cardinal Flower’s shoulder Facing 159 


CHAPTER I 


EEP in the wood the great 
white oak stood tall and 
motionless. Its rough trunk 
was covered with glittering ice 
that sparkled faintly in the star- 
light. Every bough and twig 
wore the same brittle, shining 
armor. The brown leaves that 
wave so sturdily in the winter 
wind were still, held fast by the sheet of ice 
about them. The needles of the pines and 
hemlocks wore each its icy sheath. Every 
tree, bush, and tiny shrub was alike a helpless 
prisoner. Nothing moved in the wood. The 
stars twinkled brightly, high up in the dark sky. 

But far in the heart of the oak — how differ- 
ent! For the great white oak was hollow, 
and in this hollow was the castle of the Fairy 
King and Queen! 

Just as the royal standard waves over the 
castle of a mortal king, telling to all who look 
that the Court is there, so the oak proudly 
flies its brown leaf-banners all through the 
1 




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WONDER-OAK 


winter storms and gales, a sign to all the wood- 
dwellers that the Fairy King and Queen are 
in their home. Snug and warm lives the Court 
all through the cold weather, and full to the 
brim are the royal larders with their goodly 
store of honey, nuts, and berries. 

On this New Year’s night great things were 
happening in the castle. The cone fires burned 
brightly in all the rooms. Rushlights, made 
from the white pith of the wood rushes, illu- 
minated every corner. Although it was nearly 
four o’clock in the morning, not a soul was 
asleep. The King was so excited that he 
actually appeared without his crown — an un- 
heard-of breach of etiquette. All the noblemen 
fairies stood about and looked very uncom- 
fortable; all the lady-in-waiting fairies gathered 
in groups and talked very fast and waved 
their arms and wings excitedly, and all the 
little boy and girl fairies dozed and nodded in 
the corners and wished that they could go 
to bed. 

Down by the great entrance door a footman 
listened anxiously, and up in the Queen’s 
chamber an old, old nurse-fairy, so old that 
her wings had turned snowy-white, listened 
just as eagerly. 


WONDER-OAK 


3 


Anemone, the Queen’s favorite lady in wait- 
ing, flew swiftly down the stairs and called to 
the footman, 4 ‘Don’t you hear anybody yet?” 

The footman shook his head. “No,” he 
answered, and listened harder than ever. 

“O, she is very late,” said the lady in waiting. 
“The nurse says she never knew her to be 
so long in coming before.” 

“How is the Princess?” asked the footman. 

“She is the sweetest baby that ever was 
born,” exclaimed the lady in waiting, “and 
she is the image of her dear mother.” 

By this time you have probably guessed 
that all this excitement and commotion was 
caused by the fact that an heir to the throne 
of Fairyland had just been born. Now, the 
King had been very anxious for a Prince to 
succeed him, but when he saw his dear little 
daughter he loved her at once, and went about 
telling everybody how he had always longed 
for a Princess. Of course everybody knew he 
hadn’t, but that is the way fathers always 
do, and, besides, nobody dared to contradict 
him, because he was the Kirfg, and a very 
fierce, hot-headed King he was at times. 

He leaped down the stairs now, three at a 
time, his pussy-willow robe flying straight out 


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WONDER-OAK 


behind him, and roared at the footman: 44 Where 
is the Wishing, Christening, Gift-giving God- 
mother? Who ever heard of a Princess being 
born without a Godmother? My daughter is 
nearly an hour old, and not a sign of a God- 
mother! Where is she, I say?” 

The footman’s wings quivered with fright as 
he stammered, “She — she — hasn’t c-c-come yet, 
your Majesty.” 

Anemone opened the door a crack and peered 
out into the white world. She shaded her eyes 
with her hand and looked sharply at a hollow 
stump in the distance. She thought she saw 
something move away from the stump. She 
looked closer; then she shut the door and 
turned to the King. “I think I see her coming, 
your Majesty,” she said. 

“She’d better come!” shouted the King, 
striding up and down the hall, the long pointed 
toes of his silken, spider-web shoes slapping 
on the floor at every step. “She’d better come, 
I say!” 

The door had not opened — no one had heard 
a sound — but suddenly there stood before the 
angry King a dainty little old lady, dressed 
in a splendid lacy robe of snowflakes, bordered 
with furry frost, such as you see on the window 


WONDEll-OAK 


5 


on cold winter mornings. Her wings were 
white and glittering, and when the flickering 
lights from the pine-cone fires touched them, 
they shone in rainbow colors. A beautiful 
crown of ice was on her snowy hair, and she 
carried a long slender icicle in her right hand. 
The footman shivered but did not move. The 
lady in waiting fixed her eyes on the Fairy 
Godmother, but the Wishing, Christening, Gift- 
giving Godmother looked only at the King. 

“What do you mean by keeping me waiting 
like this? Don’t you know that there is a 
Princess here? Where have you been all this 
time? Tell me that,” he roared without look- 
ing at her. 

The Godmother did not answer. She only 
gazed at him without moving, and the King 
began to walk slower and slower till at last 
he stood still before her. Then she spoke. 
Her tones were icy like her robes and her 
scepter, and the great entrance hall grew cold 
as she talked. The poor lady in waiting shiv- 
ered; the footman shivered; and the King 
drew his pussy-willow robe closer about him. 

“I have been,” slowly said the Godmother, 
“to a house in the hollow stump by the sugar 
maple tree. A boy baby has come to that 


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WONDEIl-OAK 


home. The father called me in as I passed on 
my way hither/’ 

“How dared you stop at a common fairy’s 
house when you knew that my daughter, the 
Royal Princess, was waiting for you?” inter- 
rupted the King. He tried to speak severely, 
but he did not succeed very well, because the 
cold made his teeth chatter dreadfully. 

“Don’t presume to dictate to me!” replied 
the old Godmother. “I remember the day 
when I stood by your cradle, and a homely 
baby you were too! I stood by your father’s 
and your grandfather’s. If you don’t mend 
your manners, Sir King, and treat me with 
the respect due one of my age, I’ll go at once, 
and you may try bringing your daughter up 
without a name, without a wish, without a 
gift, without a Godmother!” And she turned 
to go. 

The King fell on his knees and grasped her 
snowflake robe. “O, Godmother, dear, good 
Godmother,” he cried, “forgive me! I often 
speak before I think. Don’t go away! Don’t! 
Stay and see my Princess!” And he groveled 
at her feet, while the footman winked glee- 
fully at the lady in waiting. 

The Godmother turned toward the stairs. 


WONDER-OAK 


7 


“Let go my robe,” she said. “Your fingers 
are frostbitten already. And don’t come up- 
stairs. I’ll attend to this matter without your 
help. Come, Anemone!” 

Anemone followed the Godmother upstairs. 
The King rose from the floor and huddled 
himself in a chair, nursing his frostbitten hand. 
The footman held his nose very high in the 
air and swaggered boldly past the silent King 
out into the kitchen to tell the other servants 
all about it. 

Up the winding stair went the Godmother 
and into the Queen’s chamber. There, in a 
beautiful bed, lay the Fairy Queen. By the 
side of the bed was a fragrant green cradle, 
made from the striped needles of the fir balsam. 
On the silken pillows, woven by the best spinner- 
spiders of the kingdom, sound asleep lay the 
little Princess. The old nurse nodded in her 
chair by the window. As the Godmother 
entered the room the nurse shivered and woke. 

“Here she is,” she cried, joyfully. “Queen- 
mother, here she is!” 

The Wishing, Christening, Gift-giving God- 
mother leaned over the cradle and lifted the 
little Princess in her arms. Anemone started 
forward anxiously. She remembered the King’s 


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WONDER-OAK 


frostbitten fingers, and she feared for the baby 
held so closely against the cold robe of snow. 

But just then a wonderful thing happened. 
The snowy robe, on which rested the little 
Princess, turned a soft, warm pink, like the 
fleecy clouds at sunset. The white cheeks of 
the Godmother reflected the glow, and her 
eyes, which had sparkled so coldly on the angry 
King, were blue like the sky above the pink 
clouds. 

The little Princess waked and laughed into 
the face of the Godmother. The Queen smiled 
contentedly from among her pillows. The old 
nurse no longer shivered, but looked on well 
pleased. Anemone was warm and happy. The 
baby patted the loving face bending over her, 
and Godmother kissed the pink fingers. 

“Welcome, Godmother,” said the Queen. 
“We have waited long for you, and your coming 
is the more welcome.” 

Godmother sat down beside the Queen. “I 
was delayed,” she said, and her voice was no 
longer icy but made one think of the summer 
wind in the pines. “A playmate for the Princess 
kept me. He lies in the hollow stump by the 
sugar maple. His name is Grobbo, and I have 
wished his wish — that he may be faithful and 



The little Princess waked and laughed into the face of 
the Godmother 




WONDER-OAK 


9 


true. His gift is the power to win laughter 
from all about him — to make the world brighter 
wherever he goes.” 

“He shall come to the castle to-morrow,” 
cried the Queen, “and shall grow up with my 
little daughter. Nurse Faithful’s arms are 
broad enough for two, are they not, Nurse?” 

“Aye, that they are, Queen-motlier, and e’en 
for your own sweet self besides.” 

“It is a crystal night,” said Godmother. 
“As I came through the wood the beautiful 
ice glittered all about me. It was not purer 
than this little maid shall be. It is not more 
beautiful than she shall grow, nor is the snow 
whiter than the innocence of her heart. Little 
one, born on a crystal night, I name thee 
Princess Crystal!” 

The King had crept softly up the stairs and 
was now listening at the crack of the door. 
When he heard this he shouted: “Crystal, 
indeed! That’s no kind of a name! Who ever 
heard of a Princess being called Crystal?” 

There is no telling how long he would have 
gone on blustering if Godmother had not looked 
at the door. As soon as she turned her eyes 
in his direction his teeth began to chatter so 
he could not say another word. 


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WONDER-OAK 


“And the gift, Godmother?” softly asked the 
Queen. “What gift do you bring my little 
daughter?’’ 

“The gift of inspiring love and confidence 
in all — of chasing fear from the heart of the 
most timid creature that walks the broad 
earth, and filling that timorous heart with 
faith and love.” 

“It is indeed a rich gift, Godmother.” 

The King screamed through his chattering 
teeth, “And the w-w-w-wish — d-d-don’t forget 
the w-w-w-wish!” 

Godmother smiled as she laid the baby back 
in the cradle. “It is a very easy thing to wish 
for the Princess Crystal,” she said. “I have 
only to wish that she may never inherit her 
father’s disposition.” 

She went slowly from the room. As she 
passed the King on the winding stair she stopped 
and touched him with her cold hand. He 
stiffened instantly and stood like a snow man- 
at-arms guarding the landing. 

Outside the castle the stars began to fade 
away. It grew very dark, then a faint gray 
glow appeared in the east. The sky overhead 
turned blue, a golden rift showed in the clouds 
and the great sun appeared. 


WONDER-OAK 


11 


The ice on the oak began to crack, then to 
melt. At the first crack all the fairies sleeping 
in their houses throughout the wood, awoke. 

“Listen!” they cried. “The gun from the 
castle! Can it be that the Princess has come?” 

The melting drops fell, like tinkling bells, 
from all the oak-leaf flags. Released, the 
banners waved in the morning wind. The tiny 
bells chimed through the Fairy Wood. The 
fairies shouted for joy and the news spread. 

“The Princess!” they shouted. “The Prin- 
cess! Long life to the Princess Crystal!” 

As the sun rose higher the ice on the other 
trees, far below the top of the great oak, also 
sent forth the news: then the young trees took 
up the music, the shrubs, and finally every 
twig and dead leaf was ringing its merry chime, 
telling to each dweller in the Fairy Wood, 
far and near, that the Princess Crystal lay in 
her mother’s arms, in the heart of the great 
white oak. Not a fairy, not a bird, not a field- 
mouse running beneath the snow but heard 
and understood. 

And yet the Man, who went through the 
wood with his ax and dinner-pail, only said, 
“It thaws fast this morning!” 


CHAPTER II 


RUE to her word, the Queen 
sent for Grobbo, and he became 
the friend and playmate of the 
little Princess. At first old Nurse 
Faithful took good care of the 
two babies, but soon they began 
to creep and run about. They 
learned to know every nook and 
cranny in the castle, and made 
friends with everyone. Fairies 
grow much faster than human beings, and in a 
few weeks Crystal and Grobbo were asking all 
sorts of questions, and trying with all their little 
might to learn everything in a very short 
time. Crystal was a dainty little thing, with 
yellow hair. Grobbo was fat and roly-poly, 
and always tumbling down. He had red 
cheeks and the merriest little face. No one 
could look at him without feeling comfortable 
and contented. His laugh was so cheery that 
it made anyone laugh in sympathy, and he 
soon became known as Gay Little Grobbo. 
They were not yet old enough to go to school, 
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WONDER-OAK 


13 


as did the other fairy children, nor had they 
been out into the snowy world. 

One day, just before dinner, the King came 
tearing down stairs in a great rage. “Colum- 
bine!” he called, “Columbine! Where is the 
rascal? Some robber is trying to break into 
the castle! I can hear him from my room, 
tapping — tapping. Call the guard! Columbine! 
Columbine, I say!” And he went roaring about, 
seeking Columbine, the captain of the guard. 

He had not noticed Crystal and Grobbo 
playing on the stairs, but they had listened 
intently to every word. Now, with one mind, 
they scampered up to the very top of the 
castle and peered out from a loophole. 

“I hear him,” said Crystal. “What do you 
suppose it is?” 

“I don’t know,” answered Grobbo, with one 
leg out. “I’m going to see.” 

“I’m going too.” 

“No, you stay here, and whatever it is. I’ll 
bring it.” 

Crystal leaned far out of the opening, while 
Grobbo climbed carefully around the towers 
toward the curious sound. Soon the noise 
stopped, and he returned in great excitement. 

“I’ve found him,” he said; “lie’s coming.” 


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WONDER-OAK 


There was a whirr of wings, and a fluffy 
Chickadee alighted on the roof outside the 
loophole, and hung, head down. 

Crystal jumped, he was so big and came so 
suddenly; then she laughed, delighted. 

“O, aren’t you splendid!” she exclaimed, 
“with your black cap and your wings. I wish 
I had wings. They tell me if I’m good I’ll 
have some some day, but they’re a long while 
coming. Was it you tapping on our roof? 
What did you do it for? And who are you, 
anyway?” 

The Chickadee ran around the tower before he 
answered. “I’m a Chickadee,” he said, “and I 
was not hurting your roof. All hidden in it are 
tiny eggs that would hatch in the spring to grubs 
who would eat your roof. All winter long we 
Chickadees and our cousins, the Nuthatches, 
go through the woods, hunting and eating 
these eggs. We are really carpenters who pre- 
serve your houses for you. By the way, Grobbo, 
we found your old hollow-stump house in a 
frightful condition. I heard your father raging 
about, Princess, but you just tell him that if 
we didn’t look out for his castle he might have 
to take off all this lovely natural-wood finish 
and put on clapboards. I’m sorry I disturbed 


WONDER-OAK 


15 


him, but the roof just over his head was very bad 
indeed.” And Chickadee stood on his head again. 

Grobbo watched his antics with great wonder, 
while Crystal said, “I don’t see how you can 
hang with your head down like that.” 

“Pooh, that’s nothing!” boasted Chickadee; 
“you ought to see my cousin. White-breasted 
Nuthatch — he could walk down the whole side 



And Chickadee stood on his head again 


of this castle, standing on his head. Hark! — 
I hear him calling now. I must go. Good-by. 
Come out some day and play with me.” 

Chickadee flew away, calling “Chickadee- 
dee-dee-dee,” in answer to the “Ank-ank-ank” 
of his cousin. 

Grobbo and Crystal looked at each other 
and gasped. 

“I’ll bet I could do it,” said Grobbo, “if I 
tried.” 


1G 


WONDER-OAK 


He began to wriggle down the stairs on his 
stomach, head-first. The King dashed up, 
three steps at a time, followed by Columbine, 
gay in his red and yellow uniform, and a com- 
pany of soldiers. Grobbo heard them coming, 
but could not get out of the way. The King 
tripped over him and fell sprawling, Columbine 
fell on the King, and the soldiers tumbled one 
above the other onto Columbine. In the 
hubbub which followed, Crystal and Grobbo 
vanished. 

A few hours later the King and Queen were 
conferring on the state of the castle walls. 
Crystal had told them what Chickadee had 
said, and they had nearly decided to have the 
whole castle repaired, and to give the work to 
Chickadee himself as head carpenter. While 
they were talking Crystal slipped away and 
went quietly from room to room, calling un- 
der her breath, “Grobbo, Grobbo, where are 
you?” 

A door which led down to the storeroom 
swung open and Grobbo’s feet waved in the 
opening. He came slowly into view, red in 
the face and out of breath, but triumphant. 

“I did it!” he cried, “I went down that whole 
flight of stairs head-first, and then I backed 


WONDER-OAK 


17 


up again. O, you wait till my wings grow. 
I’ll beat that Chickadee yet!” 

“Grobbo,” said Crystal, “get your coat and 
let’s go out and find him!” 

“Why, you’ve never been out yet.” 

“I know, but I’ve looked out, and we won’t 
go far. I’m all warm. I’ve borrowed Anemone’s 
thistle-down cape.” 

Soon two tiny figures skimmed unseen over 
the snow-crust. 

“My, aren’t things big?” said Crystal. “Do 
you see him anywhere? It’s kind of lonesome. 
I’d like to meet somebody.” 

“I’ll climb up this high grass stalk and see 
what I can see,” answered Grobbo. “O, there 
he is, and a lot more with him! But he’s all 
covered with snow, I guess. He looks white. 
I’ll bet they are playing hide-and-seek — let’s 
go see!” 

He scrambled down the grass stalk, and, 
taking Crystal’s hand, ran swiftly toward the 
flock of birds. 

“Hi, Chickadee, hi, let us play too,” he 
shouted as he ran. 

The birds turned at the sound and Crystal 
saw they were not like Chickadee. 

“We are not Chickadees,” they said. “We 


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WONDER-OAK 


are Snow Buntings, but come and play with us. 
We are not even related to the Chickadees — 
we belong to the Finch family. Our cousins, 
the Sparrows, will be here soon. Who are you, 
you tiny things ?” 

“This is the Princess Crystal, and I am 
Grobbo, her playmate,” was the answer. 

The flock of Buntings wheeled into the air 
and dropped again, one at a time. As each 
passed before the Princess he fluttered his 
wings and drooped his downy head. 

“We have heard of you, Princess,” they 
twittered, “from our mistress, your Godmother. 
We have instructions from her to care for you, 
and some day we will play with you again, 
but now you must let us take you back to 
the castle, for, see — the snowflakes are falling, 
and soon the whole wood will be full of the 
whirling, blinding snow, in which you might 
easily lose your way.” 

“But you,” inquired the Princess, “can you 
find your way back again? Will not the snow 
overwhelm you?” 

“O, Princess, we love it,” they answered, 
“when the white flakes fly fastest, then are we 
happiest. We dance with them and hide in 
the whirling clouds; then when we are tired 


WONDER-OAK 19 

we He in the soft snow and it covers us while 
we sleep.” 

It was snowing fast now, and when Crystal 
turned to walk toward the castle her feet sank 
deep in the light flakes. As for Grobbo, he 
floundered hopelessly. At this moment a great 
bird passed, walking lightly over the soft snow. 
He spread his tail and saluted the Princess. 
She cried out in astonishment. 

“There is old Grandfather Grouse, a thousand 
times bigger than I,” she said, “and yet he 
walks the drifts without sinking, while I can 
scarce lift my tiny feet, I sink so deeply in 
the snow.” 

“He wears his snowshoes,” explained a Bunt- 
ing. “Has he never told you how in winter, 
a furry fringe of bristles grows between his 
toes, that spreads out as he walks and bears 
him on the snow? And when the snow is gone 
and he no longer needs them, the bristles dis- 
appear until another year?” 

“I wish he would lend me an old pair,” 
gasped Grobbo, as he lifted one heavy foot 
after the other. 

“Get on my back and hold firm, and I will 
carry you,” said the Bunting. 

Crystal and Grobbo gladly climbed on the 


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WONDER-OAK 


Bunting’s broad back. Swiftly he flew through 
the snowflakes, close to the ground, so close 
that they could see the Evergreen Wood-fern 
lying flat in the sheltered places where the 
snow had not drifted. 

When they reached the castle there was a 
great commotion. The Queen and Anemone 
stood in the doorway, looking anxiously out 
into the storm. As the Bunting lit on the 
snow before the entrance, and Crystal and 
Grobbo slid from his back, the Queen cried, 
“Here they are! Search no longer! The 
Princess is safe! Thank you, kind bird, for 
bringing her home to us.” 

But the King, who came plunging through 
the snow, tired and wet, snarled angrily: “What 
do you mean by throwing all this snow about? 
Great, clumsy giant that you are, could you 
not be more careful?” 

The Bunting made no reply, but as he rose 
to fly back to his companions he sent such a 
shower of snow at the angry King as knocked 
him down and rolled him over and over till 
he had no more breath wherewith to scold. 

Every day, after this, the Princess and 
Grobbo played in the snow. When school was 
out the other fairy children would join them. 


WONDER-OAK 


21 


There were the three Violet girls — Wood Violet, 
Yellow Violet, and little White Violet. Pearly 
Everlasting was there, Hepatica, Star Flower, 
the Partridge Berry Twins, Buttercup, Daisy, 
and the Goldenrod sisters. There was short 
little Cinquefoil, who always presented his 
chubby back when the other boy fairies played 
leapfrog. There were Mouse-Ear and Hop 
Clover, and ever so many more besides. 

One day they were all sitting in a long row 
on the castle steps when jolly Columbine came 
out. 

“Why do you look so sober, children all?” 
he asked. 

“O, Columbine,” Crystal answered, “we don’t 
know what to do. The snow is so slippery that 
we can’t run about and play, and our wings 
are not grown, so we cannot fly. All we can 
do is to sit here like this, and we are so tired 
of it.” 

“No wonder,” said Columbine. “Perhaps I 
can help you.” 

Now, Columbine had spurs on his feet, and 
wings besides, so he walked boldly out onto 
the shiny, slippery crust. When his foot 
slipped he fluttered his wings and went on 
bravely. He disappeared among the trees. The 


22 


WONDER-OAK 


children waited, wondering what he would do. 
Soon he reappeared — but such a queer looking 
Columbine! His red and yellow uniform was 
all hidden, and he himself bowed beneath the 
load he carried. Strips of birch-bark — O, so 
many of them! — he carried, and some he dragged 
behind him. When they saw him coming so 
laden all the boy fairies ran, slipping and 
sliding, to meet him, and tugged away at the 
heavy load. At the steps he threw the burden 
down, standing straight and stretching his 
wings. 

“What is it? What is it? What are we go- 
ing to do?” cried the children. 

Columbine’s eyes twinkled as he chose a long 
slender piece of bark. “Now, Princess, sit on 
this,” he commanded. 

Crystal took her seat. 

“Hold on tight,” he said, and gave her a 
mighty push. 

Down, down the smooth slope she sped, 
bumping over the roots of the great oak, and 
out into the open space until she stopped at 
last in front of the stump by the sugar maple. 

“Me next — me next!” cried all the little 
fairies, and Columbine pushed till his wing- 
blades ached again. Then he went into the 


WONDER-OAK 23 

castle, and the children slid on the birch-bark 
sleds till dark. 

As Crystal and Grobbo climbed the winding 
stairs that night after supper Crystal said : 
“It is a pretty world, and I like the snow, you 
can have so much fun in it; but is it always 
white like this? Sometimes when the snow 
melts I see brown leaves beneath, and once 
I saw a green fern.” 

Anemone, who was following to put them to 
bed, answered her: “It is only the winter world 
that you know, Princess. But soon the great 
sun will melt the snow and warm the cold, wet 
earth until all things deep below feel the warmth 
and, stirring in their sleep, push their way up 
to greet him. The trees will bloom, flowers 
and grass will grow, green leaves will fly over 
the castle, and spring will be here!” 

“When will it come?” cried Crystal and 
Grobbo together, “O, we want the spring!” 

“When you see the first Bluebird,” replied 
Anemone, “with the earth on his breast and 
the sky on his back, then you may know that 
the spring is here!” 

“How shall we know him?” 

“O, you will know him, never fear! His 
song is the song of the spring, and it wakes an 


24 


WONDER-OAK 


echo in every heart. Everyone knows the Blue- 
bird. Even the stupid Man, who passes the 
wood, knows him and stops to watch him as 
he flashes by.” 

Next morning when Crystal put on her 
dress she found she could not fasten it across 
her shoulders, so she ran to Nurse Faithful 
for help. Nurse stooped to see what the trouble 
was and gave a cry of surprise. 

“Queen-mother, Queen-mother, look here!” 

“O, what is it?” said Crystal, craning her 
neck to see. 

The Queen looked and she too exclaimed in 
delight. 

“Tell me what it is,” begged Crystal, “please 
do.” 

“Why, it’s your wings,” said the nurse. 
“Here is one almost through. They will be 
out by noontime.” 

“She is a big girl now,” said the Queen. 
“She must wear her wing-dresses. Anemone, 
bring the Princess’s wardrobe.” 

When the new dress was on Crystal ran 
downstairs to find Grobbo and tell him the 
great news. 

“You needn’t feel so big about it,” he replied, 
calmly. “I cut mine last night!” 


WONDER-OAK 


25 


Every morning after that the two children 
would measure each other’s wings, and then 
run to the door to see if the Bluebird had come. 
Day after day they watched for him. The 
snow melted in great patches, and only in the 
cold, shady places could they use their birch- 
bark sleds. 

One day they heard a faint, joyful sound 
high in the air above them. At the same time 
they felt strange flutterings at their hearts, 
and queer struggling pains where their tiny 
wings were beginning to grow. 

“The Bluebird,” whispered Crystal, and “The 
Bluebird,” echoed Grobbo. 

Then there dashed past them Lady Blue- 
bird herself, pale and faintly colored, but be- 
hind her — pursuing — came her lord and master 
in all the glory of his courting finery. Deep 
and rich was his blue coat, and gay his reddish 
vest, and as Crystal and Grobbo saw his gor- 
geous wings when he flew swiftly by, they 
shouted: “The spring has come! The spring 
has come! We have seen the Bluebird!” 


CHAPTER III 


HEN Crystal and Grobbo told 
the other children that they had 
seen the Bluebird, Ilepatica and 
little Star Flower cried out with 
delight. “School will soon be 
over now,” they sang, “and 
then we can begin our work. 
Pussy Willow and her sisters have been busy 
a long time. And big, rough Skunk Cabbage 
hasn’t been to school for ever so many days. 
We don’t miss him, though — he is so disagree- 
able. But perhaps his work makes him so.” 

“Work? What is work?” asked Crystal and 
Grobbo with one voice. 

“Why, don’t you know?” exclaimed the chil- 
dren, and they all talked at once so no one 
could understand a word. 

“Wait,” commanded Crystal. “Let some 
one speak alone. Hepatica, you tell us.” 

“0, work is something so nice, so much better 
than stupid old school. You know, the snow 
is nearly gone now, and the earth is not hard 
any more, but moist and soft. Away down 
26 



WONDER-OAK 


27 


under the ground are all kinds of flowers — 
beautiful things whose names we bear — waiting 
for the ice and snow to melt, for the gentle 
spring rains to come, for the warm sun to shine 
on them, but, more than all, for their good 
friends, the flower fairies, to help them climb, 
climb, up through the earth, and to send their 
roots deep into the ground, and to spread their 
green leaves and bring forth buds and flowers 
to make the world beautiful.” 

“What are buds and flowers?” demanded 
Crystal. 

“What are roots?” asked Grobbo. 

“There are many kinds of buds and flowers,” 
answered Hepatica, “as many as there are 
fairies. They do not all come at once, nor do 
they all grow on the same kinds of plants. 
The first are the Pussy Willows, and that is 
the reason why Pussy and all her little sisters 
have not been to school. They have been 
flying from one twig to another, helping the 
Pussies to split their shiny brown coats, and 
smoothing their soft, gray fur. That is their 
work. As our own flowers come along we all 
have our work to do, to help them in every 
way. We care for them from the time that the 
tiny shoots push through the earth until the 


28 


WONDER-OAK 


seeds are scattered. Some of us, like Arbutus 
and myself, work early: others, like Buttercup 
and Daisy, work in the hot summer sun, while 
Clematis, Aster, and Goldenrod have their busy 
time in the autumn, and Witch Hazel is the 
last of all.” 

“O,” breathed Crystal, “when do the Crystal 
flowers come? Em so anxious to work!” 

“And the Grobbo flowers — where are they? 
I hope they are red and yellow, like Colum- 
bine.” 

The children looked at each other. Tiny 
White Violet began to cry. 

“I never heard of any Crystal and Grobbo 
flowers. I don’t believe there are any,” she 
sobbed. 

Crystal and Grobbo were very grave for a 
minute; then Grobbo laughed. 

“Of course there must be,” he said. “If 
there are flowers for all of you to tend, there 
must be something for us to work for too. 
Only we haven’t found it yet. But we will, 
and if we can’t do it alone, we’ll ask Godmother.” 

“Well, anyway,” chirped the cheerful little 
Partridge Berry Twins, “you can try your 
wings with the rest of us. We were just going 
to begin when you came. Nobody can work 


WONDER-OAK 


29 


till he can fly. and if you are all ready, prob- 
ably you’ll find something to do. Our wings 
have been quivering all the morning, and yours 
are beginning now.” 

Grobbo twisted his head round and moved 
his wings as fast as he could, but nothing hap- 
pened. All the other children tried very hard, 
but no one succeeded except Hepatica, who 
really flew a tiny bit. 

A Yellow-edge Butterfly sailed slowly through 
the wood, and sank gently onto a stump. 
“Climb up on something and jump off,” he 
said. “You’ll soon learn that way.” 

Grobbo shouted with glee and scrabbled up 
a dried fern stalk, which broke and sent him, 
head over heels, to the ground. He jumped 
to his feet and climbed more carefully onto a 
rock. He stood a moment on the edge until 
all the children were looking at him, then 
leaped boldly off, fluttering his wings with all 
his might. And away he sailed in the air, over 
the heads of the other children, the proudest 
little fairy you can imagine! 

“O, it’s fine!” he cried, “and just as easy. 
Come on, Princess.” 

All the boy fairies scrabbled up the rock in 
a crowd and jumped off as fast as they could: 


30 


WONDER-OAK 


then the fat little Partridge Berry Twins crawled 
up hand in hand, and leaped with a little shriek. 
When the girls saw them floating in the air 
they all followed, but Crystal was afraid. Her 
white, lacy wings trembled, and she called, 
“Grobbo, Grobbo, come back and help me!” 

But Grobbo was racing with the Yellow-edge 
Butterfly and did not hear her, and all the rest 



The fat little Partridge Berry Twins crawled up hand in hand 
and leaped with a little shriek 


were so busy and so proud that they forgot 
all about their Princess. Just then a great 
robin flew scolding through the wood, swooping 
down into the bushes over her head, and she 
was so frightened that she ran up the rock and 
jumped before she had time to think. She 
fluttered her wings and rose higher and higher. 
Up, up she went, all her fears gone, flying 
slowly around the trunk of a maple tree. Sud- 


WONDER-OAK 


31 


denly a little voice called her, and she saw a 
butterfly sipping at the sweet sap which trickled 
from a hole that Downy Woodpecker had 
drilled in the bark. 

“Come and share my breakfast,” he said. 

She alighted on a branch and drank some 
of the sap, for she was tired. Suddenly she 
realized that she was far from the ground and 
her playmates, and at that moment she heard 
Schoolmaster Owl ringing the bell, far away 
at the school. 

“O,” she cried, “I forgot all about school. 
Where is Grobbo? I don’t believe I know 
where I am. What shall I do?” 

Butterfly coiled up his tongue and put it 
away neatly before he spoke. “Get on my back 
and I’ll take you to school. I know where 
it is.” 

So Crystal sat between his soft downy wings 
and away he flew to the hollow tree where 
Master Owl taught the little fairies, arriving 
just as Grobbo and the others were trooping 
into school. 

The schoolroom was very dark, as Master 
Owl’s eyes could not bear the light, but that 
did not bother the fairies because they can 
see almost as well in the dark as in the light. 


32 


WONDER-OAK 


The blackboards were pieces of charred wood 
that came from the dead fires in the sugar- 
maple grove, and all the little fairies wrote 
their lessons with bits of fox-fire that grows 
on dead wood and glows in the dark. They 
sat on mushrooms that grew in the hollow 
tree, and when a new scholar came Master 
Owl planted a mushroom spore and soon the 
seat was ready. All the scholars had to be 
very, very good because the hollow tree was so 
dark, and Master Owl’s eyes were made to see 
in just such dark places. Poor Owl — he could 
not see in the light at all! 

Grobbo’s lessons were very poor to-day, and 
as for Crystal, she could not answer one single 
question. They both had to stay after school 
while Master Owl wrote notes to the King. 
He sat before his high desk, scowling severely, 
dipping his quill pen deep into the ink-cap 
mushroom that stood by his side, and scratch- 
ing fiercely as he wrote. When the notes were 
done he gave them to Crystal and Grobbo, 
saying, “Go straight home now. Do not loiter 
on the way. And give these at once to the 
King.” 

The King was very angry and scolded a 
great deal, but after it was all over and he 


WONDER-OAK 


33 


had slammed the door behind them as they 
went out — you see, he was an exceedingly rude 
King — Crystal said: “It doesn’t make any 
difference what anybody says, Grobbo. We 
must go to work.” 

“That’s so,” agreed Grobbo, his chubby little 
face very serious, “but how can we work when 
we have to go to school?” 

“We can’t, and as long as there is a school, 
we shall have to go. So we must break up 
the school.” 

“Break up the school!” exclaimed Grobbo, in 
horror. “Then Master Owl would send Truant 
Officer Kingfisher after us. He came the other 
day, you know. I heard his rattle.” 

“Bother old Kingfisher! You aren’t afraid 
of him, are you?” 

Grobbo was dreadfully afraid of him, but 
he didn’t want to let a girl know it, so he said 
very loudly, “Of course not.” And then he 
wasn’t quite so much afraid. 

“If I’ll do it all myself, will you just come 
along too?” 

Grobbo puffed out his cheeks, put his hands 
in his pockets, and said carelessly, “0, yes, I’ll 
go with you.” 

But all the time he was thinking of Truant 


34 


WONDER-OAK 


Officer Kingfisher and his awful rattle, and say- 
ing hopefully to himself, “She’s only a girl — 
perhaps she can’t do it!” 

The next day he saw Crystal talking earnestly 
to Chickadee, and heard him shout as he flew 
away: “Downy will do it. He was looking for 
a new tree yesterday, and perhaps he will 
bring his big cousin Hairy with him.” 

Later, as Master Owl was calling the roll, 
saying “Whoo? Whoo? Whoo?” and all the 
scholars were answering, something flew against 
the schoolroom walls, landing with a great jar 
that shook the mushroom seats. A moment 
after there was another heavier jar, and then 
began such a hammering and pounding that 
no one could hear Master Owl calling to the 
frightened scholars. Bloodroot, Violet, and Star 
Flower huddled together in a corner, the Par- 
tridge Berry Twins hid under their seat, and 
Grobbo ran to protect Crystal. He found her 
close to the wall with her face hidden in her 
hands. When he tried to comfort her she 
turned to him, and he saw she was not crying 
but laughing. 

“It’s happening now,” she whispered. “Be 
ready to follow me. There won’t be any school 
in a minute.” 





















































































































Suddenly tlie whole outside wall gave way, and crashed in 
onto the mushroom seats 



WONDER-OAK 


35 


Master Owl was flying wildly about, shout- 
ing fiercely “Whoo, Whoo? Whoo?” but the 
hammering continued and nobody answered. 
Suddenly the whole outside wall gave way, and 
crashed in onto the mushroom seats. Two 
sharp bills showed for an instant in the open- 
ing. The fairies were all crouching at the 
farther side of the room, so no one was hurt, 
but when the bright daylight streamed into the 
dark room poor Master Owl became just like 
a blind man. 

Downy Woodpecker poked in his head, shout- 
ing, “Princess, Princess, here’s your hole — come 
along!” 

Crystal darted toward the opening, crying: 
“Don’t be afraid. It’s only dear old Downy 
and his cousin, Hairy. They have spoiled the 
schoolhouse so we can’t have any more school, 
and now we can hunt for Crystal and Grobbo 
flowers! Come, everybody!” 

She flew away, followed by Grobbo and the 
flowers who had not yet begun to work. 

Now, Master Owl, although he could not see 
anything, could still hear, and he was a very 
wise bird. 

“O — O — ” lie wailed, flying up and down 
behind his desk. “It is a plot to break up 


36 


WONDER-OAK 


my school! The King shall hear of this. Where 
is Truant Officer Kingfisher? O, if I could only 
see! O, if I only had some one I could send 
to Kingfisher!” 

‘Til go, Master,” came a husky voice from 
the corner. It was sneaky Skunk Cabbage, 
who had done his work so poorly that even 
the Man who went through the wood had 
noticed it, and said to Little Son John, trotting 
beside him, “The skunk cabbages are mighty 
few and far between this year.” Skunk Cab- 
bage had been sent back to school as a punish- 
ment, and when all the other scholars flew away 
with Crystal and Grobbo he had stayed be- 
hind, hoping for just such a chance as this. 

“Go — go, Skunk Cabbage, go at once!” cried 
blind and helpless Master Owl. “Kingfisher 
will be sitting on the dead branch that over- 
hangs the lake by the village.” 

It was a long fly, but at last Skunk Cabbage 
sank wearily onto the dead branch and told 
his story, while Kingfisher sat and listened and 
watched the cold water of the lake for his dinner. 

“Master Owl says they must all be brought 
back,” concluded Skunk Cabbage, “but first, 
you are to catch the ringleaders, the Princess 
Crystal and Grobbo, who are mischief-makers 


WONDER-OAK 


37 


and at the bottom of the whole plot. If they 
were his children — ” 

Kingfisher did not wait to hear the ending 
of Master Owl’s remarks, but flew at once 
toward the fairy woods, ruffling up his crest 
and rattling fiercely. 

Crystal and Grobbo, in the woods, heard him 
coming, and flew lower, .fluttering cautiously 
from bush to bush. 

Suddenly Crystal stopped and darted back 
to the shelter of a fern. “Look,” she whispered. 

Grobbo peered out and saw, in the snowy 
wood road, the Man who often went through 
the fairy woods, dragging Little Son John on 
a sled. “That’s the Man,” explained Grobbo. 
“He won’t hurt us. You aren’t afraid of a 
man, are you?” 

“He’s awfully big,” quavered Crystal. “Is 
that a little Man on that funny thing he’s 
dragging after him?” 

“That’s Little Son John — I’ve heard the Man 
call him so. And that funny thing, as you call 
it, is only a sled, like the ones Columbine made 
for us when the snow was slippery.” 

“O,” said Crystal. 

Kingfisher’s rattle had grown faint in the 
distance, so they flew on, looking everywhere 


38 


WONDER-OAK 


for some strange thing that might be a Crystal 
or a Grobbo flower. When they came to the 
cascade they found it leaping merrily over the 
rocks, but below, in the shadow, the ice lingered 
on the edge of the brook. Kneeling on the 
bank, they could see the lazy Caddis Worms 
among the stones under the transparent ice. 

“Why, that one’s moving!” cried Grobbo. 

“Of course I’m moving, you stupid thing,” 
replied Caddis, glaring angrily up at him. “Do 
you think you great earth dwellers are the only 
people who can move? What should you think 
if you had to carry your house with you wher- 
ever you went, as I do? You might claim some 
credit for moving about then.” 

“Is that curious tube of sticks your house?” 
inquired Crystal. 

“It certainly is,” answered Caddis; “and I 
made it all myself. My brother over there 
has used stones for his house, but I preferred 
a wooden one.” 

“I should think dragging your house about 
with you would be very hard,” remarked 
Grobbo. “It would be for us.” 

“It’s rather handy at times,” answered Caddis. 
“When any fish comes along to eat me, or when 
I’m tired talking to stupid people, I can simply 


WONDER-OAK 


39 


retire — like this.” And Caddis backed into 
his house and shut the door behind him! 

“I don’t believe that’s our work — helping 
them,” said Crystal. 6 ‘My knees are almost 
frozen, just kneeling here to watch them, and 
they don’t appreciate us at all.” 

Flying back from the brook, they found 
Hepatica hard at work among the dead leaves 
by the side of the road. 

“I’ve found a new clump,” she exclaimed, 
joyfully, “and they have promised to try their 
hardest to grow and spread. Aren’t they lovely, 
the dear things? See their fuzzy stems, and the 
little flowers, all white and pink and purple. 
But why are you out of school at this time 
of day?” 

Crystal and Grobbo explained with many a 
laugh, but Hepatica did not think it was at 
all funny. 

“That was very wrong,” she said, sadly. 
“You have spoiled your nice schoolroom, be- 
cause a broken tree can never be mended, and 
you have hurt poor Master Owl’s eyes. You, 
Crystal, who ought to be loving and kind, and 
you, too, Grobbo, whose Godmother’s wish was 
that you should make others happy — you ought 
to be ashamed! Whatever your work may be, 


40 


WONDER-OAK 


you will know it when it is time for you to do 
it. We all know that. When I begin my work 
in the cold March winds, Dandelion and Daisy 
do not rush into the fields and try to pull up 
their flowers. They know it is not yet time, 
and if their flowers came too early, the night 
frosts would kill them. You should wait and 
watch for your work patiently, and when the 
time comes you will know.” 

Crystal and Grobbo flew up the hilly road, 
feeling quite ashamed. By and by they saw 
Little Son John trying to slide on his sled. But 
the open road on the hill was nearly bare, and 
he had to drag the sled over long muddy stretches 
to get even a little slide on the shady spots 
where the sun had not yet melted the snow. 

“Come on,” said Grobbo, as Crystal hes- 
itated. “He won’t hurt you.” 

At that moment, close over their heads, 
sounded the loud, triumphant rattle of Truant 
Officer Kingfisher! He had seen them, and was 
sure he had them. But Grobbo snatched 
Crystal’s hand and flew straight to Little Son 
John, alighting on the front of his red coat. 

Little Son John looked at the lovely shimmer- 
ing creatures clinging to his coat. “Butterflies,” 
he said, slowly. “Butterflies in winter!” and he 


WONDER-OAK 


41 


lifted his hand to stroke them. Just then some- 
thing happened that caused Little Son John to 
sit down very suddenly on his sled, and cease 
all attempts at stroking these astonishing butter- 
flies. For one of them was talking! 

“Little Son John,” said Grobbo’s wee voice, 
“we are not butterflies, although we have wings. 
This is Crystal, the Fairy Princess, and I am 
Grobbo, her playmate. We have been very 
naughty in school, and Truant Officer King- 
fisher is chasing us. You won’t let him get 
us, will you?” 

Mr. Kingfisher, who had been listening with 
all his ears, now swooped fiercely at Little Son 
John, and Crystal and Grobbo cowered in 
terror. Brave Little Son John pulled off his 
red stocking cap and shook it at terrible Truant 
Officer Kingfisher, shouting, “Scat — scat — scat!” 
And old Mr. Kingfisher flew away in a panic. 

“Thank you, great, brave Little Son John,” 
said Crystal. “You have saved us from Truant 
Officer Kingfisher, but now where can we go? 
We are on our way to find work, and we are 
very sure that there is no work at home for us 
just now. Our wings are not very strong yet, 
and we have flown far and are tired. Where 
can we rest?” 


42 


WONDER-OAK 


“Well,” said Little Son John, “you can come 
and sleep at my house all night. There is a 
humming bird’s nest in the sitting-room book- 
case that my Daddy discovered with his sharp 
eyes, and when all the humming birds were gone 
he chopped the tree down and brought the nest 
home, and you can sleep in that. It’s awful 
soft inside.” 

“O, that will be splendid!” exclaimed Crystal 
and Grobbo. 

“I’ll cover you all up with my red mitten 
now, and we’ll go right along home, and I’ll 
tell Daddy and Mother that you’re goin’ to 
spend the night with us.” 

“Is the Man that goes through the wood 
Daddy?” inquired Grobbo. 

“Yup,” replied John. “Now we’re goin’ 
home.” 

John clambered up the hill, one red-mittened 
hand protecting the fairy children, the other 
dragging the sled, until they came to a big 
white house with great trees in front of it. 

“I hope it isn’t noisy,” said Grobbo, peeping 
out between John’s thumb and finger; “fairies 
don’t like noise.” 

“Daddy and Mother are pretty quiet,” replied 
John, “and I am sometimes. I’ll try to be 


WONDER-OAK 43 

real quiet all the time you’re visitin’ with 
us.” 

He left the sled at the shed door and went 
into the kitchen, where his mother was frying 
plum doughnuts. 

“Mother,” he whispered, “I’ve caught two 
fairies. A kingfisher was chasin’ ’em. He’s the 



John clambered up the hill, one red-mittened hand protecting 
the fairy children, the other dragging the sled 

fairies’ truant officer, and they’re goin’ to stay 
here all night — in Daddy’s humming bird’s nest.” 

“Very well,” said Mother, who was used to 
John’s make-believes, and who did not know 
there were any fairies. John ran in the sitting 
room and put Crystal and Grobbo into the 
soft nest. 

When Daddy came in from his work to have 
a doughnut, John told him, and he went in the 
sitting room and looked at the nest. 


44 


WONDER-OAK 


“See ’em? See ’em, Daddy?” questioned 
John, eagerly. 

Daddy nodded, for his sharp eyes could tell 
fairies from butterflies at a glance, and he had 
seen Grobbo turn and look at him, and heard 
him say to Crystal, who nestled close to him, 
“It’s only Mr. Daddy-man; he won’t hurt us. 
He has nice eyes and can see all the things he 
wants to.” 

“We must be awful quiet,” whispered John. 
“He told me fairies don’t like noise.” 

Toby-cat stalked into the room. 

“Shoo,” yelled John. “Shoo, you Toby-cat! 
Get a million miles away!” 

Toby-cat ran and John clattered after. When 
he came back Daddy said, “I guess Son John 
is the one to remember to be quiet.” 

“Well, sir,” said Little Son John, “that was 
a helping noise, and they knew it. Toby-cat 
might have seen ’em, and thought they were 
butterflies and gobbled ’em all down — bodies 
and feathers and fur! That’s his usual custom!” 


CHAPTER IV 


ROBBO waked in the morning 
to find Crystal’s bright eyes 
looking earnestly at him. 

“We must go straight back 
home, Grobbo,” she said sol- 
emnly, “and tell them we are 
sorry we broke the schoolhouse, 
but that we can’t go to school 
any longer, and they must find 
us some work.” 

“Yes,” agreed Grobbo, “I think so too, 
but we might wait to bid Little Son John 
good-by.” 

Although it was very early they soon heard 
him in the room above, and in a few minutes 
his stout little boots came clattering down the 
stairs. “What a lot of noise he makes!” said 
Grobbo. “I’m glad we don’t wear shoes like 
that.” 

“Yes, but he is a nice child.” 

At the door John remembered that fairies 
did not like noise, so he tiptoed into the room 
and peeked into the hummingbird’s nest. He 

45 



46 


WONDER-OAK 


was half afraid it had been all a dream, but 
there were Crystal and Grobbo sitting on the 
edge of the nest, and smoothing each other’s 
wings. 

“Good-morning, Little Son John,” said 
Crystal. 

“Good-morning, ’Little Son John,” said 
Grobbo. 

“Good-morning,” said John, politely. “I hope 
you rested well.” 

“We did, thank you, in this lovely nest; but 
now we must fly home and tell them we are 
sorry that we were naughty.” 

“What will your Daddy and your Mother do 
to you?” asked John. “When I’m bad my 
Mother puts me in the back room, but when I 
say I’m sorry she lets me come out.” 

“I don’t know,” replied Crystal; “but I 
think we must go now.” 

“You haven’t had any breakfast.” 

“We shall have some at the castle.” 

“I wish you wouldn’t go. I’d like to have 
you come again.” 

“We surely will, dear Little Son John; and 
sometimes when you are playing in the woods 
and fields, if you walk very softly and look 
very sharply at the flowers, you may see us 


WONDER-OAK 


47 


or our companions. We shall see you again. 
And now please open the door and let us fly 
away.” 

John pushed open the big door, and watched 
them flying toward the woods. As they went 
swiftly in the direction of the great oak they 
noticed a commotion in the wood. Far away 
Pussy Willow and her sisters were flying swiftly 
about, Water Cress was running up and down 
the brook, and low on the earth Skunk Cabbage 
was skulking about, pretending to look among 
the dead leaves. Crossbills and Juncos were 
hurrying about among the trees, but it was 
their old friend Chickadee who spied them first 
and spread the news. 

“O, I see — see — see,” he called. “Hunt no 
more — more — more!” and then sang again and 
again, “Safe — safe — safe — ” as he flew by their 
side to the castle. 

Tired and hungry, Crystal and Grobbo were 
soon safe in the great audience chamber. 

“My!” whispered Grobbo to Crystal, “they 
have been hunting for us all night — look at 
Columbine and the soldiers.” 

Crystal saw more than the muddy uniforms 
of the Royal Guard. She saw the Queen- 
mother wiping her red eyes, and the King, her 


48 


WONDER-OAK 


father, shaking with rage as he sat on his throne. 
She saw poor old Master Owl in a dark corner, 
blinking his injured eyes behind some great 
blue spectacles, and beside him Truant Officer 
Kingfisher, ruffling up the feathers on his head, 
but not daring to rattle in the audience chamber. 
She saw all the runaway scholars, sitting 
meekly in rows, all but Skunk Cabbage, who 
stood beside Master Owl and handed him fresh 
wet handkerchiefs to cool his eyes. But she 
saw too the Wishing, Christening, Gift-giving 
Godmother seated at the King’s right hand, 
and she was glad, for she knew that Godmother 
would understand and would set things right. 

As Crystal and Grobbo came into the chamber 
a great clamor arose. 

“Whoo — whoo — whoo!” hooted Master Owl. 
“There they are! They have spoiled my nice, 
dark schoolroom. It is all a glare of blinding 
light, and — ” 

“I did! I did!” squealed Skunk Cabbage. “I 
saw them do it. I heard the Princess telling 
those meddlesome Woodpeckers to — ” 

“They have destr-r-r-royed the r-r-r-royal 
pr-r-r-roperty,” rattled Kingfisher, “and they 
must — ” 

“What does this mean?” raged the King, 


WONDER-OAK 


49 


jumping up and down and holding his crown 
on with both hands. “Why does my daughter 
tear down schoolhouses and spend the night 
in the wood? I’ll— I’ll—” 

Then Godmother arose. Her robe was no 
longer of frost crystals, but was blue like the 
spring sky, and her mantle was fleecy and 
white like the little clouds that the west wind 
drives at noontime. She stretched out her 
hands and silence fell over the Court. 

“We all know what these children have done,” 
she said. “Now let us hear why they did it.” 

Crystal looked at Grobbo, who stepped for- 
ward and spoke. 

“I don’t think we meant any harm,” he said. 
“We heard all our playmates talking about 
their work and the good times they had doing 
it, yet no one seemed to know of any for us. 
We wanted to look for some, but we couldn’t 
while there was school, so we just did this so 
there couldn’t be any more school.” 

“But we never thought it would hurt anyone,” 
cried Crystal, in distress, looking at poor old 
Master Owl, who was still wiping his eyes with 
the handkerchiefs Skunk Cabbage passed him. 
“O, I’m so sorry we’ve hurt anybody!” She 
ran to her mother and hid her face in her lap. 


50 


WONDER-OAK 


“So,” shouted the King to Grobbo, “you got 
my daughter to run away to find work, did 
you? My daughter shall never work, I tell 
you!” and he started angrily toward Grobbo, 
who stood silent. 

Godmother touched the King’s feet lightly 
with her wand. “King,” she said, “did you 
notice you were walking in the cold brook 
water?” 

Everybody stood up and stretched their 
necks to see, and sure enough, there about the 
King’s ankles was streaming and swirling a 
nice, cold little spring rill, with icicles at the 
edges. 

“O — O — O — O!” screamed the King, hopping 
up and down, but not able to move from the 
water. “O, it’s so cold! O Godmother, dear, 
take it away.” 

“Be quiet, then,” said Godmother, touching 
the stream, which sank out of sight. 

“It is right, my children,” she continued, 
“for you to want to work, but you did not go 
about it in the right way. Hepatica told you 
the truth when you met her by the side of the 
road.” (Hepatica looked at Godmother in 
wonder that she should know what was said.) 
“However, as Master Owl’s eyes are now well 


WONDER-OAK 


51 


again” — Master Owl suddenly found he could 
see perfectly well without his blue glasses — 
“and when Truant Officer Kingfisher finds that 
old Father Flicker has leased the schoolhouse 
just as it stands for his summer home, and 
since all the children are safe and sound and 
sorry, perhaps we have all learned our lesson. 
Bluebird has told me that the spring is coming 
early this year, so all the flower fairies will 
have a great deal to do and there will be no 
time for any more school. I am sure Master 
Owl and Mr. Kingfisher are thinking of build- 
ing their summer homes too, and they will be 
glad to be relieved from their duties.” 

“I tell you I won’t have my daughter work,” 
shouted the King. 

“You’ve stepped in the brook again,” said 
Godmother. “You should be more careful.” 
The water had appeared again, rushing about 
the King’s silk stockings. 

“Anyway, I won’t have her work with 
Grobbo!” he cried, splashing about. 

Then Crystal raised her head from her 
mother’s lap and spoke: 

“Why, father,” she said, “Grobbo didn’t do 
anything. Did you think it was Grobbo’s 
fault? I did it all — he only followed me to 


52 


WONDER-OAK 


take care of me, when I said I would go. And 
when Kingfisher was nearly catching us, Grobbo 
was so brave. He flew with me right to Little 
Son John, a great boy-man, who scared King- 
fisher away, and took us to his house, and we 
slept in a humming bird’s nest all night. And 
the great big Daddy-man came and looked at 
us, and he saw us, but the Mother-lady didn’t 
believe we were there.” 

The King looked at Crystal with the tears 
on her cheeks, at Grobbo waiting, straight and 
still, at the Godmother, and then at the icy 
water in which he was standing. 

“0, do as you think best,” he said, crossly, 
and the stream sank away. 

“Children,” said Godmother, “you shall learn 
the work of all your playmates. Crystal shall 
help Arbutus, all the little Violets, fat little 
Cinquefoil here, the slender Bluets, and the 
jolly Dandelions, while Grobbo shall watch for 
the blooms of the Shadbush, Rhodora, the gay 
Marsh Marigold, Pitcher Plant, and Jack-in- 
the-Pulpit — ” 

“He’s my cousin — I want to help him,” 
interrupted Skunk Cabbage. 

“No,” sternly replied Godmother, “you are 
a sneak. I know why you told Master Owl 


WONDER-OAK 


53 


what you did. You \yere sent back to school 
for shirking your work. But — yes, you shall 
help Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and he shall preach you 
a sermon every day, and perhaps next year you 
may be a better fairy. Then Grobbo shall help 
Columbine too — he shall learn to drill the Bee 
Brigade which escorts the Queen Bee to her 
new palace, and the Wasp Reserves, who build 
the paper forts that defend the outposts of 
the kingdom.” 

By this time Grobbo and Crystal were dancing 
about with delight, the King had warmed his 
feet, and everyone was happy but Skunk Cab- 
bage, who was crying in a corner and using all 
Master Owl’s handkerchiefs. 

“Now,” said the Queen, “I hear the Royal 
Society of Spring Peepers practicing in the 
marsh. Shall we not call them in and have 
some music and dancing? Our dear Godmother 
has made us so happy after our night of sorrow. 
And I think she will stay, so that to-morrow 
we may have the Ceremony of the Beginning 
of Work.” 

Godmother promised, and Columbine was 
sent to summon the orchestra; and then all the 
Court, young and old, danced and danced. 
The Queen danced with Grobbo, and the King 


54 


WONDER-OAK 


danced with Godmother, and Crystal danced 
with everyone in turn. All were happy but 
Skunk Cabbage, who was not allowed to dance 
at all, but had to turn the music for the leader 
of the band. 

The next morning the Court Herald sum- 
moned all the fairies to the castle for the Cer- 
emony of the Beginning of Work. A white 
throne had been placed beside those of the 
King and Queen, and Godmother sat there in a 
beautiful new robe of light spring green. Be- 
side her stood Crystal, her wings quivering with 
eagerness. Far down the great hall stretched 
the lines of fairies in their many-colored robes, 
and their wings shimmered and shone in the 
morning light with all the tints of the rainbow. 
They were all there, from soft gray Pussy 
Willow, with wings like mist, in the front row, 
to yellow-haired Witch Hazel, with her sunny 
wings, standing tall in the background. 

When all had assembled Columbine stepped 
forward, and behind him marched Grobbo, very 
proud in his new Guard’s uniform of red and 
yellow. 

4 ‘Prepare for the wing drill,” commanded 
Columbine. 

Each pair of wings was straightened and held 











' p 













































The drill over, Columbine stepped back to his place at the 
head of the Guards, and Godmother arose. “Guardians 
of the Tree-Buds,” she called 


f0mm 


WONDER-OAK 


55 


motionless; then, at Columbine’s orders, they 
flashed and fluttered till the whole hall was a 
blinding mass of color. The drill over, Colum- 
bine stepped back to his place at the head of 
the Guards, and Godmother arose. 

“Guardians of the Tree-Buds,” she called, 
and a company of fairies with wings of dusky 
pink and soft green, marched up to the throne. 
Sugar Maple and Red Maple stood side by 
side, their thick, strong wings almost touching 
Ash and Linden behind them. Next came 
Buttonwood, wearing her headdress of button 
balls; Elm, White Oak, Apple in her pinky- 
white cap, and Butternut. All the other trees 
were there, each wearing his distinctive cap, 
ready and waiting to begin his work. 

“Go forth to your work,” she commanded. 
“The spring is upon us. Your buds are calling 
you. Do your work faithfully and well, that 
the trees may bless mankind. This year your 
Princess goes among you to learn of you. When 
she flies high among the treetops guard her 
well, and show her the mystery of opening bud 
and flower. And now, go forth.” The wings 
flashed a salute and the Tree Fairies left the hall. 

“Guardians of the first Spring Flowers,” 
called Godmother, and all of Crystal’s play- 


56 


WONDER-OAK 


mates marched to the front of the hall. Ar- 
butus, Star Flower, White Violet, Bloodroot, and 
the Bluets were among this company; and they 
stood before her, waving their pink and purple 
and white wings, nodding and smiling at her 
in friendly greeting. 

“Your playmate is your Princess, remember,” 
said Godmother. “When she flutters among the 
grasses show her your fragrant flowers and see 
that no harm comes to her. Away now, for 
your charges are calling you.” 

The Spring Flower Fairies flitted from the hall. 

Troop after troop marched forward to re- 
ceive their message from Godmother, and de- 
clare their allegiance to Princess Crystal; the 
Guardians of the Summer Flowers from vood 
and swamp, from roadside and field, led by 
proud little Cinquefoil, with Dandelion, Butter- 
cup, Johnswort, and the yellow flowers of the 
summer and fall, with tall Goldenrod and 
Witch Hazel bringing up the rear. As they 
passed and saluted, the hall was full of sun- 
shine from their yellow wings. 

After all had gone Godmother led Crystal 
out from the castle, across the wood road, to 
a spot where a great rock stood in a patch of 
sunshine, surrounded by the sturdy green leaves 


WONDER-OAK 


57 


of the Trailing Arbutus. All about the rock 
hovered the pink and white Arbutus fairies, and 
they greeted Crystal with soft little cries of 
welcome. Those who were busy under the 
leaves, coaxing the buds to bloom, came out 
to listen to what Godmother was saying. 

“Crystal,” said she, “I have brought you 
first to Arbutus and her sisters to begin your 
work. Many of them you have never seen, 
because all through the winter while you have 
been in school they have been tending the buds 
which form in the fall, and lie all winter under 
the warm carpet of the snow. Besides, they are 
very shy, but they do their work so lovingly and 
so well that you could have no better teachers. 
When you are through with them and their blos- 
soms they will show you where to go next.” 

Godmother flew away, and soon Crystal was 
working eagerly under their directions, hunting 
for the tiny green buds under the dead leaves, 
telling them where to turn to meet the sun, 
kissing fragrance into them, and loving them 
so dearly that all their pale, white flowers 
turned pink with pleasure and grew into rosy 
blossoms, and never before were the May- 
flowers so large and so beautiful as they were 
that spring. 


CHAPTER V 


OW began the busiest time of 
the fairies’ year. School was 
over and Master Owl was spend- 
ing all his time trying to find 
a new house. Chickadee was 
roving through the wood, and 
even Truant Officer Kingfisher 
forgot all his naughty children, 
for Mrs. Kingfisher had come 
back from her winter vacation 
and was spring-cleaning the house in the sand- 
bank by the lake. The house was so very 
dirty and there was so much to do that she 
and Mr. Kingfisher had to eat their meals on 
the piazza, which was quite convenient because 
the piazza overhung the lake, and he could 
sit on the railing till a fish swam by, then dive 
after it and bring it directly to the table. 

All the fairies flew away early in the 
morning to watch their buds and flowers, and 
even those whose plants would not bloom u til 
later had to go too to see that the roots were 
growing strong and deep. Crystal and Grobbo 

58 



WONDER-OAK 


59 


had long ago learned that there were no Crystal 
and Grobbo flowers, but there was so much 
else for them to do that they did not care. 
Crystal flew home to the castle every night, 
tired and sleepy, but very happy, for her flowers 
were growing all through the wood, and she 
had already heard the Man telling Little Son 
John that he had never seen the spring flowers 
so large and so plentiful. 

Grobbo was very busy too, so that Crystal 
did not see him as often as she used to. He was 
growing to be a big fairy now, and was a member 
of the Royal Guard. Every day he went with 
Columbine to the flowering trees where the bees 
gathered pollen, and listened while Columbine 
drilled the Bee Brigade. The Bee Brigade 
worked all summer, storing the winter supply 
of honey in the Royal Storehouse, a hollow tree 
not far from the castle. At first Grobbo was 
rather afraid of the bees’ sharp stings, but 
he soon became friendly with them, and when 
Columbine wished to send a message by him 
Grobbo would carry a load of pollen himself, 
flying in the midst of the bees^ pushing them 
from their course and frolicking and playing 
with them all the way. 

The early butterflies were out now, and they 


60 


WONDER-OAK 


must be drilled for their part in the Midsummer 
Festival. There were the great Yellow Swallow- 
tails that would draw the royal chariot, the 
beautiful Banded Purples that drew the ladies- 
in-waiting, and all the little common yellow and 
white butterflies that drew the rest of the Court. 
Then too there were the night moths that 



It was a great treat for the fairy children to . . . sit up late 
in the evening and watch Lieutenant Primrose 
commanding the . . . Luna Moths 


would be waiting on the beach across the lake 
to bring the merrymakers home. Evening 
Primrose drilled the night moths, and it was a 
great treat for the fairy children to be allowed 
to sit up late in the evening and watch Lieu- 
tenant Primrose in his light-yellow uniform, 
commanding the company of beautiful pale- 
green Luna Moths which were to escort the 
Princess. 



WONDER-OAK 


61 


The Fairy Queen was busy too. Day after 
day she went from room to room in the castle, 
looking over the stores of silk that the spinner 
spiders wove, and deciding how much they must 
make during the summer. The spiders wove 
all the fairy dresses, all the uniforms, and, in 
fact, every bit of silk that was used at the 
castle. It was all white and glistening when 
they brought it to the Queen, and she colored 
it with dyes from the rainbow. Every time the 
sun came out after a shower the Queen hurried 
to the end of the rainbow and dipped the pieces 
of silk into the pot of gold that holds the colors. 
Then she took it back to the spiders, who 
sewed it into fairy dresses and robes. 

So, you see, everyone was busy but the 
King. His only duty was to be King, and 
that wasn’t enough to keep him busy in an 
empty castle, with everyone else away at work. 
Now, he had always seen the fairies working 
every spring, and never thought very much 
about it, but when he had a little daughter of 
his own he thought she ought not to work. 
He wanted her to sit beside him on the throne 
and just be a Princess, because he thought his 
daughter was a great deal better than anybody 
else’s daughter. But Crystal was such a loving 


62 


WONDER-OAK 


little thing that she had to be out among 
fairies and flowers and birds. The King did 
not like it at all, and so he sat all day long, 
alone in the castle, sulking, and when Crystal 
and the other fairies flew home at night, laugh- 
ing and chattering about their work, he would 
say, dreadfully cross and loud, “Stop your 
noise!” 

You see, his manners were getting worse and 
worse. At last he could not stand it any longer. 
So, one day, he sat all day without moving or 
speaking or eating, just thinking and thinking, 
and getting crosser and crosser, and when bed- 
time came he wouldn’t move or answer when 
they spoke to him, so they all went to bed and 
left him there. After everything was quiet he 
got up and tiptoed out of the castle. 

“I’ll — stop — her — work!” he said, under his 
breath. 

He thought he was all alone in the wood 
when he crept softly over the moss and pine 
needles, but Busybody Bat flew behind him all 
the way. Now, flower buds are just like people 
— some of them try hard to be big, handsome 
flowers, while some are lazy and like to have 
their work done for them. The King knew this, 
so he went creeping from plant to plant, hunt- 


WONDER-OAK 


63 


mg for the lazy buds and whispering to them, 
telling them what hard work it was to blossom, 
and that no one would see them in the great 
wood anyway, and it really wasn’t any use to 
take all that trouble for nothing. This was 
just the kind of advice the lazy buds liked, and 
it made them more lazy still; so they gladly 
promised him not to open at all, and he hurried 
back to the castle ever so pleased. He thought 
that if her flowers did not bloom, Crystal would 
be discouraged and give up her work, and be 
willing to sit on the throne beside him all day 
long. Now Busybody Bat listened to all he 
said, and then went home to his house under 
the eaves of the church and hung himself up 
by the hooks on his wings to wonder what he 
should do. 

When Crystal visited her flowers again she 
was grieved to find so many small, poor buds. 
She could not understand it, and there was no 
one she could ask, because Grobbo was away 
with a new company of bees, and Godmother 
had not been seen for a long time. 

“I can’t think what it means,” she said 
aloud. 

“What — what — what — what’s the matter 

now?” came a sweet little cry from a nearby 


64 WONDER-OAK 

locust tree, and Song Sparrow flew down at her 
side. 

“The flowers have all stopped blooming,” she 
replied, “and they say they don’t want to try 
any more. I don’t know what can have 
happened.” 

“Noise — noise — noise — heard a noise last 
night ! Scold — scold — scold — scolding all the 
time ! Bat — bat — bat — Busybody Bat — flying 
all the night! Busybody Bat — Busybody Bat — 
he knows — he knows — ask him!” And Song 
Sparrow flew away. 

Crystal told Grobbo at supper time, and 
when it was dark they went out to find Busy- 
body Bat. He told them all about it, and 
volunteered to find Godmother and tell her. 
She came next day and found the King sulking 
in the castle. He had tried to get Jack-in-the- 
Pulpit not to bloom, but Jack had been so 
indignant he had preached him a long sermon 
right then and there. Now Godmother preached 
him another, and said, besides: “You are a 
wicked King, to try to undo your daughter’s 
work. Since you plot when you are idle, you 
shall work yourself and have no time for mis- 
chief, but you shall not work in the sunlight 
with the others. When night comes you shall 


WONDER-OAK 


65 


fly through the wood and tend Nettle, Thistle, 
and the Poison Ivy. Busybody Bat shall fly 
behind to see you do not shirk, and report to 
me each day. This shall you do till the Mid- 
summer Revels, and then we shall see.” The 
King tried to beg off, but Godmother would 
not change her decree, and she sent him right 
to bed, and put a great notice on the wall of 
the castle, telling all who read what she had 
done. 

After this Crystal’s flowers bloomed beau- 
tifully. Bloodroot appeared in her delicate 
white dress and the Bluets danced on the grass. 
Crystal was growing fast now and was a little 
girl no longer. She flew farther and farther 
from the castle, following the tiny stream out 
from the woods across the meadows where it 
spread into a wide brook, and down to the 
bridge under which the Phoebe Bird built her 
home. Here were the Bush and Shrub Fairies, 
and Crystal found Grobbo among the white 
flowers of the Shad Bush, and later the Blue 
Flag and the Pitcher Plant. Here grew the 
willows too, and one day they found a huge 
brown moth laying her eggs on the under side 
of a willow leaf. 

The moth was a friend of Grobbo’s, and told 


66 


WONDER-OAK 


them how, later, the eggs would hatch tiny 
caterpillars, who would feed on the tender 
willow leaves, and grow big and fat all summer 
until at last each caterpillar would spin him- 
self a cocoon, go to sleep in it for the winter, 
and in the spring come forth a great moth 
like his mother. Crystal was much interested 
in this, so nearly every day she flew to the 
brook to watch the eggs. In about ten days 
she found a furry little band of black, spiny 
caterpillars, eating and eating and eating ! When 
she tried to talk with them they would only 
mumble, with their mouths full — horrid bad 
manners they had — ‘‘Don’t bother us — we can’t 
stop to talk — O, how good these leaves are!” 
and go right on eating and eating and eating! 
Crystal thought them quite ill bred and de- 
cided not to visit them any more; but about 
two days later, when she flew that way with a 
Red- winged Blackbird, she was surprised to find 
all the black caterpillars gone, and some bright 
orange ones in their places, still eating and eat- 
ing and eating! 

“Where are the black ones?” she exclaimed. 

One who had eaten till he could eat no 
longer, managed to gasp out: “We are the black 
ones — only we grew so fat we had to stop and 


WONDER-OAK 


G7 


change our dresses. It is an awful nuisance; 
we can’t eat while we are doing it. Later we 
shall have to change these for green ones 
trimmed with blue and yellow. Come and see 
us do it some day. O, I’m so hungry!” And 
he hurried away to eat again, for his long speech 
had quite exhausted him. 

Crystal was curious to see them change 
their dresses, so she came every day, and nearly 
all the caterpillars became friendly, nodding 
and smiling at her while they were eating, but 
there was one who always glared fiercely at 
her, and when she came near he snapped at 
her with his sharp jaws. He was the greediest 
one of all and was afraid she would eat some 
of his leaves. 

One day she came and found only this one 
left. He was not eating any more, but sitting 
perfectly still on a little silk carpet, while all 
about him, on other little silk carpets, lay the 
cast-off clothing of all his brothers and sisters. 
He was crosser than usual, for they had all 
gone away and left him, but his dress was so 
tight and hard to get off, because he had eaten 
so much, that he could not get it off alone. 
His head, and the front part of his body, in 
its gay new dress, were free, but his hind legs 


68 


WONDER-OAK 


were still fast in the old one. Crystal forgot 
all about his ugly temper when she saw him 
struggling, and only wanted to help him. 

“O,” she cried, “wait a minute! Perhaps I 
can help you.” 

She ran to him and pulled him off from his 
little silk carpet. 

“Great, clumsy thing!” he shrieked at her. 
“Now see what you have done! Without my 



Then Crystal seized the other side of the skin, and they all 
pulled together 

carpet to fasten my legs in, I can never pull 
myself free. I shall die — you have killed me!” 

Crystal was horrified, for she had not known 
that Caterpillar’s carpet was so important. 

“What shall I do?” she sobbed. Just then 
Grobbo flew by, and she called him, telling 
him all about it, while Caterpillar lay moaning 
on his side. Grobbo ran to him, grasped the 


WONDER-OAK 


G9 


old skin, braced himself firmly against a twig, 
and pulled with all his might. Caterpillar 
struggled, but could not free himself. Then 
Crystal seized the other side of the skin, and 
they all pulled together. Caterpillar sprawled 
forward on his face, free — but, alas ! one of 
his five pairs of hind legs was left in the old 
skin, and he limped painfully as he got to his 
feet. He reared up on his other four pairs of 
legs and shook his head savagely at Crystal. 

“You have made me lame,” he roared, “and 
some day you shall pay for it! All my days 
I shall never walk like other caterpillars. But 
by and by I shall be large and strong, much 
bigger than you, and then — beware! 1 shall 
never forget that you are the cause of my mis- 
fortune. When the wind rustles in the leaves 
it shall say to you, ‘Beware of the Lame Cater- 
pillar!’ When the brook sings to you as you 
fly above it, it shall say, ‘Beware of the Lame 
Caterpillar!’ And he hobbled away. 

Grobbo would have pierced him with his 
sword, but Crystal clung to him, sobbing and 
afraid. 

“I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she mourned. 
“I was only trying to help him. O, what shall 
I do?” 


70 


WONDER-OAK 


‘‘Don’t be frightened, Princess,” replied 
Grobbo, soothingly. “I will not let him hurt 
you. When I am away from you soldiers shall 
be detailed to guard you, and Godmother — why, 
don’t you remember Godmother’s wish for you 
— ‘to inspire love in the heart of every creature’ ? 
He will soon get over his anger and realize 
that it was only an accident.” 

“He hasn’t any heart— he has only a stom- 
ach,” sobbed Crystal. 

Grobbo comforted her; and he was so big 
and strong and handsome, and promised so 
faithfully to protect her, that her fears faded 
away, and she flew home with him, quite 
hopeful. 

The apple trees were in bloom in the Man’s 
orchard at the edge of the wood, and as they 
flew through the pink blossoms Grobbo ’s bees 
were humming and buzzing at their work. 
They all saluted Crystal, and one of them re- 
ported to Grobbo that a new company was to 
be formed. So, next day, Grobbo and the 
Guards set out to escort the company to its 
new home, assign the work, and decide which 
room in the Royal Storehouse it should fill. 
Crystal asked permission to go too, and was 
soon seated in the top of a fir balsam tree, 


WONDER-OAK 


71 


watching with great interest. It was all con- 
fusion at first, the bees flying about excitedly 
until the Queen finally settled on a low branch. 
Then they all crowded about her, hanging on 
the branch and on each other, until there was 
a huge round mass of singing, humming bees. 

Grobbo flew to Crystal. 4 4 We must wait 
awhile now,” he said; 44 then — ” 

But just here two figures came cautiously 
through the wood, and Crystal and Grobbo 
looked in wonder and amazement. One was 
tall and one was short, but both were queer. 
Their overalls were tied down over their boots, 
thick gloves stretched up their arms, and their 
faces were invisible because of the white netting 
that covered their hats, heads, and necks. 
The large figure carried a great square box 
in its hand. From the small figure came a 
shrill, excited little voice: 44 There they are, 
Daddy! Over there on that tree. My! aren’t 
there a lot of ’em? Do you think you can 
hive ’em all, Daddy?” 

44 It is Little Son John and the Daddy-man,” 
exclaimed Crystal. 4 4 What are they going 
to do?” 

44 I don’t know,” replied Grobbo. “They are 
looking at our bees.” 


72 


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Daddy walked up to the mass of bees and 
set the strange box on a rock beneath them. 
Slowly and cautiously he lowered the branch 
on which they hung, and shook them gently 
into the box. He shut a door on them. 

“He has captured the new Bee Company,” 
said Grobbo, in dismay. “What a wicked man!” 

Daddy carried the box out to the wood 
road, put it on a wheelbarrow, and went away, 
while Crystal, Grobbo, and the soldiers flew 
swiftly to the castle to report the loss. The 
King was sleeping — he was working nights, you 
remember — but the Queen was very much 
disturbed. 

“What is there to prevent his taking our 
whole army?” she inquired, anxiously. “Then 
what should we do for our winter supply of 
food?” 

“Let Grobbo and me go and ask Little Son 
John what it means,” suggested Crystal. “He 
was good to us when we were at his house, and 
the Daddy-man was good too.” 

The Queen consented, and soon Son John’s 
mother, looking up from her work, thought she 
saw two butterflies on the outside of the window. 
Daddy’s eyes were sharper. 

“They are the fairies that John brought 


WONDER-OAK 


73 


home in the spring,” he said. Little Son John 
shouted with delight, and ran out of doors. 
Grobbo and Crystal were soon flying about his 
head, asking questions. 

“Why did your Daddy take our soldiers?” 
asked Grobbo. 

“Well, sir, my Daddy hasn’t any soldiers! 
I have though, but Santa Claus brought them 
to me. They’re not yours.” 

“Yes,” Crystal insisted, “he did take our 
soldiers and put them in a box. There it is 
now, across the road.” 

“O,” scoffed John, “those ain’t soldiers. 
That’s a swarm of bees he found in the wood. 
He watched ’em, and he thought they’d swarm 
pretty soon, and they did. 

“A swarm of bees in May 
Is worth a load of hay.” 

“They’re our bees,” Crystal said; “they store 
away our winter food supply in the Royal 
Storehouse.” 

Daddy came out now. He had been listening 
in the doorway. 

“I came mighty near cutting down that big 
bee-tree,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t if it 
is your storehouse. My little boy likes honey 


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too, and I promised him I’d get him a hive of 
bees. If you will lend them to me for this 
summer, I’ll give you back a nice swarm next 
year, and I won’t let anyone cut the old bee- 
tree down as long as you want it.” 

When Crystal and Grobbo heard what a 
narrow escape they had had from losing the 
Royal Storehouse they were much relieved, and 
gladly agreed to let Little Son John have the 
new Bee Company for the summer. Grobbo 
flew to the hive and explained the matter to 
the astonished bees, and then he and Crystal 
flew back to the castle to report to the waiting 
Court. 

There was great rejoicing at the assured 
safety of the food supply, but when the King 
woke and heard of it he was angry, as usual. 
That night he tried to get Poison Ivy to poison 
Little Son John and his Daddy, but Busybody 
Bat told Godmother, and she sent the King 
a nettle rash that kept him very uncomfortable 
for a whole week. 


CHAPTER VI 


S spring blossomed into summer 
the woods became filled with 
flowers and fairies. Most of the 
plants were blooming splendidly 
by this time, which was fortu- 
nate, because Midsummer Day 
with its revels was near at hand, 
and many of the fairies must 
help in the preparations. News 
of the festival spread swiftly 
through the wood. Mother Nighthawk, sitting 
on her speckled eggs on the bare ledge in the 
field, heard Chipmunk and Red Squirrel talking 
about it and boomed it across the sky as she 
swooped at evening for her supper. Lame 
Caterpillar, limping through the grass far below, 
heard her and listened to every word. 

“ Where do the fairies hold their revels?” 
he asked little Red Salamander, who lived by 
the spring. 

“Way over on the sandy beach.” 

“And where is that?” 

“Ever so far from here. Folks who swim can 
75 



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WONDER-OAK 


go across the lake, but you would have to walk 
around. It would take you longer too, because 
you are lame.” 

“Will the Princess be there?” eagerly inquired 
Lame Caterpillar. 

“Of course. The revels are going to be 
particularly fine this year on her account.” 

Lame Caterpillar forgot to say “Thank you,” 
he was so anxious to get to the sandy beach. 
He hurried away, asking everyone he met if 
he were on the right road. For several days 
he traveled, hardly stopping to rest, and at last 
he reached the beach. Some of his cousins 
whom he met on the way told him he was in 
plenty of time, so he settled down to rest and 
wait patiently. 

After the King had recovered from his nettle 
rash he had been very good, attending to his 
work so well that all the poisonous plants and 
shrubs were bright and green, waving their 
danger signals to all who came that way. 
Godmother was so pleased with his conduct 
that she had allowed him to stop work a week 
before the revels, and he was now engaged in 
dictating the invitations to Solomon’s Seal, who 
wrote them out very neatly and carefully. 

The fairy kingdom extended for many miles, 


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77 


much too far for the King himself to govern 
the whole of it, so he appointed certain noble- 
men to rule as lieutenants over the streams, 
the meadows, and the great mountain. Each 
year they and their people were invited to join 
in the Midsummer Revels, which were held on 
the shining white beach at the farther side of 
the lake. This year in particular the nobles 
were awaiting their invitations with especial 
eagerness, for the fame of the Princess Crystal 
had spread far and wide. Schoolmaster Owl, 
Truant Officer Kingfisher, Court Carpenter 
Chickadee, and all the other birds were also 
invited. The King crossed Busybody Bat’s 
name off the list, but Godmother found it out 
and made him put it back again, so he had to 
dictate Bat’s invitation to Solomon’s Seal after 
all! Solomon expected the King to be very 
cross about it, and was exceedingly surprised 
to find that he smiled as he spoke Bat’s name. 

When they were all done the King called the 
messengers and sent them forth. To the Fairies 
of the Fields and Meadows, whose lord is Red 
Clover, went Gill-over-the-ground, mounted on 
a green grasshopper who took long leaps through 
the woods and was soon out of sight. Wild 
Rose, on a gorgeous dragon fly, soared away 


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with the invitation for Cardinal Flower, who 
rules the Fairies of the Streams. Bunchberry’s 
steed was a butterfly — Painted Beauty — who 
carried him swiftly to the high mountain where 
Sir Mountain Laurel holds his windy Court. 
Columbine carried the invitations to Owl, King- 
fisher, and Chickadee, and Grobbo to the other 
birds. He expected to carry Busybody Bat’s 
too, but, much to his surprise, the King said, 
“I’ll attend to this invitation myself.” 

Now, Busybody Bat sleeps all day, so his 
invitation had to be delivered at night; there- 
fore, when the Court was all safely asleep, the 
King left the castle. He crept softly through 
the woods, walking on the shadows of the trees, 
and trying not to make a sound, but once he 
stumbled into a thrush’s nest and the mother 
bird gave a startled cry. Master Owl, out 
doing his marketing, heard the unusual sound 
and called, “Whoo? Whoo? Whoo?” Busy- 
body Bat himself, flitting happily about in 
search of news, answered quickly, “I don’t 
know, but I’ll go see!” and flew after the King. 
He was astonished to see the King in the woods 
that night because he knew that Godmother 
had excused him from his work, and he was 
still more astonished to see him suddenly fall 


WONDER-OAK 


79 


on his knees, dig furiously in the earth and 
bury something in a deep hole. Busybody Bat 
could not dig in the earth himself, so when the 
King went away he carefully marked the place 
and hurried at once to the house of his cousin, 
Mistress Mole, who was a famous miner and 
digger. The next day Mistress Mole went to 
the spot and dug and dug until she found a 
nice wasp-paper envelope, all crumpled and 
dirty. She was blind, so, of course, she could 
not read it; but she took it home, and when 
Busybody Bat came that evening he read it 
just as soon as it was dark enough for him to 
see. And it was his invitation to the revels! 

“O — ho,” said Busybody Bat, and “Ah — ha,” 
said Busybody Bat. “We shall see!” 

Crystal was so excited she could hardly wait 
for the return of the messengers. The fairies 
all accepted; but Kingfisher, Chickadee, and 
most of the birds sent word that they should 
be obliged to leave before the revels were over, 
as they were not used to being out at night, 
and, besides, they had to get up very early 
every morning to sing in the Chorus of the 
Dawn. Whippoorwill wrote, as usual, that he 
would be delighted to come, and Master Owl 
accepted for himself and family in a formal 


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note. The squirrels and chipmunks hastened 
to the castle, chattering their acceptances from 
the treetops, but nothing at all was heard 
from Busybody Bat. 

Grobbo did not seem very happy during this 
busy time — perhaps he did not care for all the 
strangers to see his Princess. Still, he went 
faithfully about his work, for his was the task 
of providing the conveyances for the Court, 
while Columbine had charge of the escort. 

At last the great day came, and at sunset 
the Court prepared to cross the lake. Crystal 
had a beautiful dress of glorious shimmering 
white silk with a long train, and the King was 
so proud of her that he kept walking around 
and around her, smoothing her dress here, 
straightening her train there, and arranging 
her long golden hair, which hung below her 
knees. 

The Queen, attended by Anemone, Wild 
Calla, and Black-eyed Susan, her favorite ladies- 
in-waiting, sat calmly on the throne waiting 
till the Twin-flower bells should give the signal 
to start. 

“Why don’t we go? Why don’t we go?” 
impatiently demanded the King. “Where is 
that Grobbo? Where is my chariot? We shall 


WONDER-OAK 


81 


be late! The guests will arrive before we do. 
We shall certainly be late.” 

“Godmother hasn’t come yet, father dear,” 
replied Crystal. “We couldn’t go without her.” 

“Of course she hasn’t come! She is always 
late. She was late the day you were born, and 
if I hadn’t sent for her she wouldn’t have been 
here yet. I told her what I thought of her. 
If she can’t get here on time, we will start 
without her.” 

Just then the Twin-flower chimes rang through 
the wood. Crystal ran to the castle door, 
followed by the Court. Grobbo and Columbine 
stood at attention on either side of the entrance, 
the long row of oak-leaf chariots was ready, 
and their butterfly steeds were trembling with 
desire to be away. The Royal Guards were 
drawn up on parade, while the Bee Brigade 
and the Wasp Reserves waited at one side to 
act as advance and rear guard. 

“Which is Godmother’s chariot, Grobbo?” 
asked Crystal. “Isn’t she here?” 

“Here? No — late as usual,” interrupted the 
King. “We will wait no longer. Columbine, 
give the order to march.” 

He stepped into the royal chariot, where the 
Queen and Crystal were already seated, 


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Columbine did not answer. He leaned against 
the castle wall, and his head drooped lower and 
lower. Grobbo swayed back and forth, his eyes 
shut tight. The wings of all the butterflies 
closed slowly. The bees and wasps clung 
drowsily to the trees. The King stood up and 
looked about him. He saw the Queen and 
Crystal leaning against the high back of the 
chariot. He saw the ladies-in-waiting, silent 
and motionless, the unconscious soldiers and 
the whole silent Court. 

“Here’s a pretty state of affairs,” he scolded. 
“They have all gone to sleep.” 

“Yes, they rest while they wait for me,” 
said a sweet voice above his head, as God- 
mother, driving her little blue Spring Butter- 
flies, came floating down a golden beam of the 
setting sun. “They are not so impatient as 
you, Sir King. But now we will start. Grobbo, 
let us go.” 

The bees and wasps waked, buzzing loudly, 
the sleeping Court stirred and the butterflies 
opened their wings. At Columbine’s word of 
command the procession started. Through the 
length of the wood, through the Man’s orchard, 
across the meadows and down to the banks 
of the lake they flew, chattering gaily. First 



At Columbine’s word of command the procession started 




























































































































WONDER-OAK 


83 


came a company of bees, then Columbine, 
leading the Royal Guards, the heralds blowing 
honeysuckle horns; the royal chariot drawn by 
ten huge Yellow Swallow-tails, escorted by 
Grobbo and followed by Godmother; then the 
ladies-in-waiting, drawn by the Banded Purples, 
and all the Court, each coach drawn by four yel- 
low or white butterflies, while at either side and 
bringing up the rear came the fierce Wasp 
Reserves. The Fairy Wood was deserted by 
its guardians, and Little Son John, walking 
along the old wood road with his father and 
mother, began to whimper, saying: “Well, sir, 
let’s get home. I don’t like it here to-night. 
It’s lonesome, and I think there’s bears about!” 

At the shore of the lake the butterflies settled 
gently on the grass and the fairies descended 
from their chariots. Floating at the water’s 
edge, rocking gently on the ripples, was a great 
fleet of lily-pad boats, each with a silken spider- 
web sail. Every boat was steered by a water- 
boatman, and just beneath each pad waited a 
turtle, his sharp jaws close beside the stem that 
held it anchored. The fairies quickly embarked 
and Columbine gave the signal. All the turtles 
bit savagely at the strong lily stems, the boats 
were released, and the whole company sailed 


84 


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across the lake in the dazzling shaft of light 
shot by the setting sun. Escorting them went 
the fish who lived in the lake, the silvery Perch, 
the black pirate Horned Pout, with their 
fierce whiskers and sharp daggers, and all the 
long-nosed Pickerel, whose home is deep among 
the lily-pads. Big Black Bass, whom all the 
fishermen talk about but never catch, went 
ahead with news of their coming. When they 
reached the sandy beach the little Spotted 
Sandpipers with their white vests all freshly 
washed and ironed, stood in a long row at the 
very edge of the water, bowing and curtseying 
and screaming in shrill little voices, “Hail, O 
King — hail, O Queen — hail, O Princess Crystal 
— Welcome on this Midsummer Eve — Welcome 
— Welcome!” 

The Bull-Frog Brass Band, concealed among 
the rushes, boomed forth a salute, the Veeries 
rang their chimes, then, faint and far-away in 
the deep pine forest, sounded the evening solo 
of the Hermit Thrush. 

“O, isn’t it beautiful!” breathed Crystal as 
Grobbo helped her onto the sand. 

A musical call was heard from the direction 
of the creek. Turning, they saw the Wood 
Duck swimming swiftly toward them, her babies 


WONDER-OAK 


85 


in front of her, and all laden with a laughing, 
scrambling horde of fairies from the creeks and 
brooks. Sir Cardinal Flower leaped from Wood 
Duck’s neck and saluted the King. 

“Your Majesty, the Fairies of the Streams 
pay homage to the Princess Crystal. Our good 
friend, Wood Duck, tumbled her brood out of 
the nest in the hollow tree into the water only 
this morning that we might ride with them to 
your revels.” 

The Stream Fairies knelt before the Princess, 
who welcomed them. 

The sun had set behind the hill, but the sky 
was full of rosy clouds, against which soon 
appeared a dark mass. 

“An army is coming,” cried the King, in 
alarm. “Assemble the Guards.” 

All watched anxiously, but soon Crystal ex- 
claimed, “They are fairies!” 

Led by Sir Mountain Laurel, the Fairies of 
the Mountain were flying to the revels on their 
own strong wings. Their dresses of gray and 
green had looked dark against the brilliant 
sunset, but soon they alighted on the beach 
and were gladly welcomed. 

Now across the lake came a noisy twittering, 
and a flock of swallows flew low over the water, 


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swooping and soaring, bearing on their backs 
the Field and Meadow Fairies, led by Lord 
Red Clover. 

The birds came from all directions, and 
Master Owl, with his wife and family, flapped 
through the woods and perched on the dead 
trees hung with hammocks of gray moss. 
Later, when the babies were tired, Mother Owl 
put them to bed in the hammocks. 

“Where is Busybody Bat?” inquired God- 
mother; but the King pretended not to hear. 

The whole company now seated themselves. 
Godmother took Crystal by the hand and led 
her out onto the shining white beach. The 
great moon was peeping over the hills and 
touching the lake with silver. 

“Midsummer Night is come,” said God- 
mother. “Now let our revels begin. The 
Princess shall lead us in the dance.” 

The cricket orchestra, who had been scraping 
and tuning their fiddles, now began a merry 
lay, the mosquitoes sang loud and sweetly, and 
all the fairies leaped to their feet. LTp and 
down the sands they danced, in and out, al- 
ways following Crystal, who floated about, now 
dancing in the moonlight at the water’s edge, 
now leading them toward the dark pines that 


WONDER-OAK 


87 


bordered the beach. Among the red pines 
dusky forms flitted from tree to tree, and bright 
eyes watched the lovely Princess. 

The first dance over, the Mountain Fairies 
danced alone, leaping high in the air and float- 
ing gracefully on their strong wings. The Field 
Fairies twined the Maypole. The Stream 
Fairies danced, advancing and retreating like 
the ripples of the water. Then Crystal danced 
alone, and all the little minnows swam inshore 
to watch her and stuck their heads out into 
the air to see until they gasped for breath. 
The dark forms in the pine woods drew nearer 
during her dance, till silently, slowly, from out 
the shadows came a stealthy figure that stood 
motionless in the moonlight, watching the 
Princess. Grobbo was the first to see it, and, 
drawing his sword, crept toward it. Black- 
eyed Susan saw the moonlight flash on Grobbo’s 
sword and screamed.' The fairies turned in 
alarm and saw a troop of ghostly Indian Pipes 
drawn up at the edge of the woods. The King 
strode angrily toward the dark painted figure 
standing still in the moonlight. 

“Who are you,” he demanded, “and what 
do you mean by coming unbidden to our revels? 
Explain, sir.” 


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WONDER-OAK 


“I am Painted Trillium, the Chief of the 
Indian Fairies,” the stranger replied, cour- 
teously. “Many years ago we were the only 
fairies in this place. There were no white men 
here then. In yonder field the Indians lie 
buried, and across the road is the sunken fire- 
place of stone where they used to cook their 
food. While my people have been working in 
the woods, they have sometimes caught a 
glimpse of a beautiful pale maiden, bending 
lovingly above her flowers. Moccasin Flower 
has seen her often. Pipsissewa heard to-day 
from Red Squirrel that the King would hold 
revels here to-night, and we thought perhaps 
the Snow Maiden might be here. I think that 
this is she. Moccasin Flower, is this the 
maiden?” 

Dusky Moccasin Flower stepped forward and 
looked closely at Crystal. “It is she.” 

“This is what comes of your chasing all over 
the country — working — working!” raged the 
King at Crystal. “Who ever heard of Indian 
Fairies? You didn’t have any invitation to 
come to our revels. Solomon’s Seal, did you 
send this person an invitation?” 

Arrowhead, a large warrior who stood be- 
hind Trillium, advanced toward the King, but 



Dusky Moccasin Flower stepped forward and looked closely 

at Crystal 










































































































































WONDER-OAK 89 

Godmother stepped forward and laid her hand 
on his weapon. 

“King,” she said, “your rude tongue will 
cause you serious trouble some day. Your un- 
bidden guest comes truly of the race that 
owned these woods and streams while you 
were yet unborn. The Indian Fairies are few 
indeed now, and seldom do they show them- 
selves. In all my long life I can remember 
only a few times that they have been seen by 
any but their own race. That they come here 
to-night to do honor to your daughter should 
cause you great pride. 

“O Painted Trillium, the Princess Crystal 
appreciates this honor. She invites you and your 
company to join our revels; and if you can 
show her any of the secrets of your woods, 
she will be very glad. The King is hasty, and 
there are many things he has yet to learn. 
Forgive him, and think of his rude words no 
longer.” 

The Indians came forward and greeted 
Crystal. Then Trillium gave a low call, and 
from the darkness came troops of fireflies, each 
carrying his lantern and waving it to and fro 
about the Indians, who performed their war 
dance. Trillium stood at Crystal’s side while 


90 


WONDER-OAK 


Moccasin Flower danced before her. All the 
noblemen were very attentive, and crowded 
about Crystal; but at last Trillium said, boldly: 
“Will you come with me to the side of the road, 
Princess? I would show you something.” 

Crystal looked for Grobbo, but he was hunt- 
ing for one of Godmother’s blue butterflies 
which had strayed away, and was nowhere to 
be seen. So she went with Trillium across the 
road. In a dark rut something reared its head 
and watched them as they passed. Trillium 
took her to the hidden side door of the Oven- 
bird’s nest, and showed her the mother bird 
sitting on her eggs. Something moved unseen 
in the grass beside the nest. 

“The Ovenbird is the wisest bird in the 
Indian wood,” said Trillium, “and all come to 
him for advice and teaching. So, because his 
house is hard to find, and because he often 
walks by himself, thinking and studying, he 
frequently calls, to let people know where 
he is, loud and ever louder — “Teacher — teacher 
— 1 Teacher— TEACHER !” 

Something moved behind Crystal, and a voice 
spoke in her ear: “Wise he may be, but he 
cannot teach you to escape from the Lame 
Caterpillar ,” and she turned quickly to see her 


WONDER-OAK 


91 


old enemy, grown fat and large, towering above 
her. She screamed. Trillium wheeled, his 
arrow drawn to his shoulder, but Caterpillar 
was already limping silently away through the 
underbrush. 

“What is it?” exclaimed Trillium. “What 
frightened you?” 

Crystal explained. 

“I will find him and kill him,” declared 
Trillium. “No one knows the woods as I and 
my people. My scouts shall seek for him, and 
he cannot escape.” 

As Trillium led Crystal back to the beach 
a loud buzzing sounded through the air, and 
Busybody Bat appeared, leading a great com- 
pany of June Bugs and carrying his crumpled, 
dirty invitation. 

“Please excuse me for not coming before,” he 
gasped, “but it took me so long to get ready, 
and my invitation was late in arriving. I 
think it must have been mislaid.” 

He handed it to the King, who turned very 
red in the face. 

“We should like to dance,” said Bat. “We 
have a special feature, made up for the revels.” 

The June Bugs began a blundering, clumsy 
dance, buzzing loudly and flying nearer and 


92 


WONDER-OAK 


nearer to the King. Louder and louder they 
buzzed, and closer and closer they flew. Then 
they began to sing: 

“Late at night he wandered — 

Deep he dug the hole ! 

Thought he hid it safely — - 
Forgot old Mistress Mole! ” 

“Late at night she wandered — 

Deep she dug the hole! 

Busy’s invitation 

Found by Mistress Mole! ” 



The June Bugs began a blundering, clumsy dance, buzzing loudly 
and flying nearer and nearer to the King 


Busybody Bat snatched his crumpled invita- 
tion from the King, and waved it so everyone 
could see it. Of course they all knew what the 
King had done, and he was very much ashamed, 
and wanted to go away and hide. But as he 
felt so badly, and as it was Midsummer Night, 


WONDER-OAK 


93 


Busybody Bat forgave him and asked God- 
mother not to punish him. 

So then the company was summoned to the 
banquet, which was spread on mushrooms and 
served by the Wild Strawberry Fairies in white 
caps. They bore large strawberry leaf plat- 
ters, loaded with the sweet red berries, and 
garnished with dewdrops that sparkled and 
glittered in the light of the full moon. The 
fairies sat on fairy-ring mushrooms which grew 
in circles and so near that each could talk with 
his neighbor, and everyone was cozy and 
sociable. Godmother sat with Crystal and 
Grobbo and the noblemen. Grobbo was very 
happy to be there, because he had not liked to 
have Crystal talking to the fairy lords so much, 
and when the Partridge Berry Twins had whis- 
pered to him that she had gone across the road 
with Trillium he had been very miserable 
indeed ! 

By the time the feasting was ended the great 
round moon was small and pale in the sky, and 
the stars were fading. A cock crew on the 
other side of the lake. The revels were over! 

The Fairies of the Mountain started on 
their long home flight. The Indians vanished 
in the shadowy woods. The Stream Fairies 


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WONDER-OAK 


roused Wood Duck and her brood, who had 
been snugly sleeping by the rocky point. The 
Field and Meadow fairies rode home with the 
Court on the Night Moths, which were big 
and strong. Lieutenant Primrose and his picked 
band of Luna Moths escorted the Princess, and 
the beach was deserted. 

When the sun rose, and the Indian Fairies 
were far away, out from his hiding place limped 
Lame Caterpillar. Along the road he went, 
wagging his head, and talking to himself. On 
a sheep-laurel he saw a great cocoon. Then 
he remembered something he had known a long 
time before. 

4 ‘That’s the kind of a house my family builds,” 
he said, thoughtfully. “They are nice, roomy 
houses. I must build me a house. I think I’ll 
build my house near the Fairy Wood.” 

He looked at the empty house a long time, 
then he turned and hobbled away in the direc- 
tion of the distant castle. 


CHAPTER VII 



VHE day after the revels God- 
mother had a long talk with the 
King and Queen. Later she called 
Crystal to her. 

“Crystal,” she said, “you are 
a little girl no longer. You cannot 
romp and play as you have done 
all the spring, but must now be 
learning the ways of your king- 
dom and thinking of the good of your subjects. 
For you are the King’s daughter, and some day 
you will rule in your father’s place. Also, as 
you are a royal Princess, you must have two 
ladies in waiting, and these you may choose 
from among your playmates.” 

“O, I don’t want to grow up,” cried Crystal, 
in dismay, “I want to work and play among 
my flowers, and fly about with Grobbo. O, I 
shall never be happy if I have to grow up.” 

“Everyone must grow,” answered Godmother. 
“There is no help for that; but if we are careful 
not to let our hearts grow old, it makes no 
difference about our bodies. And your heart 
95 


96 


WONDER-OAK 


will always be young. A loving heart can never 
grow old. The King has this morning appointed 
Grobbo one of his councilors, and he will advise 
you when you are in doubt, and always be at 
your call when you may wish to visit any part 
of the kingdom. But you must no longer go 
without an escort. Now, choose your ladies- 
in-waiting.’ ’ 

“If I must have ladies in waiting, I’ll have 
the jolliest ones I know,” replied Crystal. 
“I choose the Partridge Berry Twins.” 

Godmother smiled, but only said, “Very well, 
we will go and tell your father and mother.” 

The King was quite disgusted at Crystal’s 
choice, shouting: “They are fat! They are 
short and fat! Who ever heard of short, fat 
ladies in waiting? They should be tall and 
slender.” 

Crystal, who was already finding the powers 
of a Princess rather agreeable, insisted, and the 
King finally called Anemone and ordered two 
brand new red silk dresses for the twins. They 
were delighted when they heard that Crystal 
had chosen them for her attendants, and ran 
to find her and hugged her very hard, one on 
each side. 

“Isn’t it splendid about Grobbo too?” they 


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97 


cried. “Old Green Snake, who lives behind 
our rock, says he is the youngest councilor ever 
appointed. It is a great honor.” 

Crystal made many trips about the kingdom, 
escorted by Grobbo and attended by the Par- 
tridge Berry Twins. They flew to the grassy 
meadows, where Crystal rested in Mistress 
Bobolink’s sheltered home, then, perched by 
her side on a swaying grass stalk, watched 
Grobbo and the guards train the new fairy 
steeds — the Black Swallow-tail Butterflies, the 
speckled Fritillaries, the Royal Monarchs and 
the smaller Viceroys. They were all very 
happy together until their visit of inspection 
to the Royal Storehouse. The bees were com- 
ing in from the clover field, laden with pollen 
and flying busily into the tree. Suddenly the 
Partridge Berry Twins, who were watching 
them, gave a little squeal. 

“O, what is that funny green thing that bee 
is carrying?” 

This bee, instead of flying into the larder, 
came toward Crystal and dropped his burden 
at her feet. 

Grobbo exclaimed in astonishment, “That 
is not one of our bees!” 

Another and another followed, each dropping 


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his load, until she was standing in a heap of 
tiny, carefully cut bits of green leaves that 
completely covered her feet. 

“Why, what are these?” she asked. “And 
where did they come from?” 

“They are letters from Lord Red Clover, 
who loves you and would marry you,” explained 
a bee. “We are his leaf-cutter bees, and we 
have cut these from the fresh green leaves. 
On each one he has written you a letter, asking 
you for your hand.” 

Crystal turned to Grobbo. “W T hat shall I 
do?” she asked, deeply distressed. “I don’t 
want any love letters. I wish he wouldn’t 
send them to me. I don’t like him. Let us 
go home.” 

She stepped out from the pile of letters, 
shrinking from them as she did so, and Grobbo’s 
heart grew light at her words and actions, for 
he loved her dearly and did not want her to 
love anyone else. He vowed never to let Red 
Clover or any other lord annoy her, and they 
flew home hand-in-hand, never even noticing 
that the Partridge Berry Twins were not with 
them. 

The Partridge Berry Twins were seated on 
the floor of the storehouse, in the midst of the 


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99 


love letters, reading them all just as fast as 
ever they could, before they should wither. 

As summer grew and all the yellow flowers 
gilded the land, Mountain Ash and Pyrola flew 
from the high mountain as ambassadors from 
Sir Mountain Laurel, who wished to marry 
Crystal. Sir Cardinal Flower visited the castle, 
escorted by Pickerel Weed and a company of 
tall Cat Tails, to woo her in person, but she 
sent them both away. The King grew angrier 
and angrier, Grobbo became happier and hap- 
pier, but the tender-hearted little Partridge 
Berry Twins shed many tears over the sorrows 
of the departing guests. Crystal’s ladies in 
waiting were no longer jolly; she herself was 
distressed by her suitors, and the King was 
too angry even to scold. He sat sulking on 
the throne, wondering why Crystal would not 
marry one of the fairy noblemen. He could 
not imagine the reason till one day Skunk 
Cabbage requested an audience of him. Skunk 
Cabbage had grown so big and fat that he 
could not get in at the castle door, but the 
King very obligingly came out into the court- 
yard to hear what he had to say. 

“I know, your Majesty,” wheezed Skunk 
Cabbage, “I know the reason why the Princess 


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will not marry any of her suitors. She loves 
Grobbo, that lazy good-for-nothing who wastes 
all his time flying about with her. He will 
marry her and reign in your place. Even now 
he is making himself popular with your 
subjects.” 

The King, who was already jealous of Grobbo 
because everyone loved him, was only too glad 
to believe Skunk Cabbage. 

“It is true,” he said at once; “your words 
are wise, good Skunk Cabbage. I am glad to 
be warned in time. I will banish Grobbo, and 
you shall be councilor in his place.” 

Skunk Cabbage could hardly believe his ears. 
This was more than he had hoped for, and he 
really thought it was all a dream until he 
received a summons to attend a meeting of 
the Royal Council at the castle. A new door, 
extra large, had been cut to admit him, and a 
huge mushroom seat was placed for him at the 
council table. The King and his councilors 
sat about the table, while before them stood 
Grobbo, stern and dignified. 

“Skunk Cabbage,” commanded the King, 
“repeat, please, the facts you told me about 
the Councilor Grobbo and the Princess Crystal.” 

Now Skunk Cabbage had really told much 


WONDER-OAK 


101 


more than he knew, and had not thought he 
would be obliged to speak before the Council, 
especially with Grobbo looking at him so 
scornfully, so he was confused and stammered 
and hesitated. 

“Do not be afraid to speak,” urged the King. 
“I will protect you.” 

Skunk Cabbage mumbled his story, and the 
councilors looked at the King to see what he 
would do. When they saw him so angry they 
looked at each other, nodding their heads 
gravely and saying, “Something must be done.” 

Only hoary -headed Mullein stood up, saying: 
“It is right and proper that the Princess Crystal 
and the Councilor Grobbo should love each 
other. All their lives they have been playmates 
and friends. Godmother meant them for each 
other when she brought the baby Grobbo from 
his home in the hollow stump.” 

If Mullein had not been the oldest councilor 
in the kingdom the King would have banished 
him too, but he did not quite dare to do that, 
so he only raged at him, and then proceeded 
to pronounce the sentence of banishment upon 
Grobbo. Mullein slipped unheeded from the 
room. 

“You shall go from the Fairy Kingdom, never 


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to return,” the King said to Grobbo. “My 
people shall have no dealings with you in any 
way. Far across the lake, in the depths of 
the pine woods, shall you dwell, apart and 
alone. Bind him to the hawk who sails in the 
sky higher than our eyes can see, and let him 
be carried far from us!” 

Two guards stepped forward, but Grobbo 
waved them back. 

“I go, bound to no high-sailing hawk, Sir 
King,” he replied, clearly. “Nor shall anyone 
here bind me in any way. You can Banish me, 
but you cannot change the heart of your 
daughter, the Princess Crystal. She loves me, 
and the stubborn will of her father dwells also 
in her. She will remain faithful to me. And 
I, in the pine woods — ” 

Crystal burst into the council chamber, fol- 
lowed by Mullein. Straight to Grobbo she 
flew and put her arms around him. The Par- 
tridge Berry Twins, with wide, frightened eyes, 
peeked in at the open door. Still holding 
Grobbo, Crystal turned to her father. 

“What does this mean, father?” she de- 
manded. “What is this talk of banishment 
that I hear? What has Grobbo done except to 
be faithful and true and to help everyone in 


WONDER-OAK 


103 


every way? If lie goes from the kingdom, 
then your daughter goes too. For I love him, 
and him only will I marry.” 

“Stand aside,” roared the King, advancing 
with his hands raised as if to strike her. “Go 
back to your apartments. It is not fitting for 
a woman to be in the council chamber.” He 
turned to Mullein. “This is your work,” he 
cried. “You told her that Grobbo was to be 
banished.” 

“I did, indeed,” replied Mullein. “She is 
the heir to the throne of Fairyland, and has a 
right to know the doings of the council.” 

Grobbo had been whispering to Crystal, and 
she now released him, looking scornfully at her 
father. 

“We will obey you,” she said. “You are the 
King, even if you are unjust. Grobbo will 
go to the dark pine woods, but you will never 
make me marry another. You will be sorry 
for what you have done this day.” 

She left the hall, and at once sent the Par- 
tridge Berry Twins to summon all the Flower 
Fairies to her presence. 

That night the King, the Council, and the 
Royal Guards escorted Grobbo to the shore 
of the lake and watched his lonely flight to 


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the tall red pines, far on the other side. Little 
did they know that Crystal had already sent 
a fleet dragon-fly with tidings of his coming, or 
that Painted Trillium, with all his tribe, was 
waiting to receive him with every honor. 
Neither did they know of the presence of the 
Flower Fairies in the dim audience chamber of 
the castle, where Crystal was addressing them. 

“Friends and playmates,” she said, “the 
King, my father, has unjustly banished Grobbo 
from the fairy kingdom. His only fault is that 
he loves me. My father thinks to force me to 
marry a lord, but that I will never do. You 
all love Grobbo — you are all his friends. Will 
you help me, then, to bring him back again?” 

“We will — we will,” shouted all the fairies 
together. 

“How can we do it?” asked Purple Aster. 

“We can do what the King himself tried to 
persuade us to do in the spring,” answered 
Goldenrod. “We can refuse to work. Our 
flowers will wither, our buds will blight and our 
leaves will curl up and die. There will soon be 
no Fairy Wood at all if we all do that. And 
we will do it if the King does not recall Grobbo!” 

“Yes! Yes!” cried the fairies with one voice. 
“We will do that.” 


WONDER-OAK 


105 


“O, how can I thank you?” said Crystal. 
“But I hear the guards returning. Go now 
and tell no one.” 

The fairies slipped quietly away, and no one 
knew of the meeting, not even Busybody Bat, 
because he had followed Grobbo across the lake. 

Next day Columbine escorted Goldenrod, 
Aster, and Fringed Gentian to the council 
chamber, where they politely asked the King 
to reconsider his action and recall Grobbo. 
As they had expected, he absolutely refused, 
and they reported their failure to their com- 
panions. 

True to their word, the Flower Fairies stopped 
work at once; the Tree Fairies learned of the 
plan and were only too glad to help, and joined 
them in their idleness. Soon the flowers in 
the Fairy Wood were drooping, the leaves were 
falling from the trees, and the ferns were dry 
and curled. It was not long before the King 
noticed this condition and demanded the reason 
from Columbine. 

“Your subjects refuse to work until you re- 
call the Councilor Grobbo,” he replied. 

“I will never do it,” shouted the King. 
“Call out the Bee Brigade and the Wasp Re- 
serves, and force my subjects to work!” 


106 


WONDEll-OAK 


The bees and wasps needed the flowers and 
their honey badly, but they loved Grobbo too, and 
refused to inarch against the rebellious subjects. 

Soon the wood was so dry that Little Son 
John’s father did not dare to make a brush 
fire for fear he should set it ablaze, and every 
morning he searched the sky for rain clouds, 
that the flowers and trees might live again. 
He did not know that rain would not help — 
that only Grobbo’s return could make the 
wood blossom as it had before. 

Busybody Bat learned that Grobbo was living 
in great honor with the Indian Fairies, and 
very often he flew across the lake to tell him 
of Crystal and how hard his companions were 
trying to bring about his return. One night 
he flew to Crystal’s window and wakened her 
from her sleep. 

“It is Busybody Bat,” he whispered. “Come 
out. I have a present for you from Grobbo.” 
He had four fireflies clinging to one of his wings. 
“If we fly to the mouth of the creek,” he ex- 
plained, “Grobbo can see the lanterns of the 
fireflies from the Indian woods. He will be on 
the beach with his own fireflies, and will signal 
you from there. You can return his signals 
with these that he has sent you.” 


WONDER-OAK 


107 


Crystal flew swiftly with Bat to the creek, 
and there, across the water, at the edge of the 
black woods, were four tiny flashes of light. 
Grobbo’s fireflies waved their lanterns and 
Crystal’s answered. Every night after that, 
Bat would call her, and they would fly to the 
creek to communicate with Grobbo. Soon she 
began to go there in the daytime, even though 
she could see nothing of him. She liked to sit 
with Red-winged Blackbird in her house and 
watch the Indian woods. The Partridge Berry 
Twins — sad little twins they were now — often 
went with her, but it was a long, hard fly for 
their round little wings, and sometimes she 
went alone. She always went the same way — 
through the woods to the orchard, then to the 
bridge over the brook and across the swampy 
meadow by the willows that fringed the widen- 
ing creek. Always her eyes were looking 
eagerly ahead, so she did not see Lame Cater- 
pillar hiding in the thick willows. 

Lame Caterpillar watched her sharply every 
time with his treacherous eyes, and while she 
was resting with Mother Red-wing he climbed 
up and down the willow branches, hunting for 
a proper place to build his house. At last he 
found a branch that suited him and he was 


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much relieved, for he knew by his queer feelings 
that he could not wait much longer. That 
day he watched intently for Crystal’s appear- 
ance. At last he saw her coming, alone as he 
had hoped. When she was directly over the 
willow he called to her. 

“Princess, come into the willow,” he said. 
“There is one here with news of Grobbo.” 

“Who calls me?” said Crystal, fluttering close 
to the branch under which Lame Caterpillar 
was hiding, and looking all about to see who 
spoke. 

“Here,” whispered Caterpillar, softly. 

Crystal alighted on the branch. 

Lame Caterpillar reared, seizing her in his 
thick, strong arms. 

Mother Red-wing waited in vain for her 
visitor, and that night Grobbo’s signals were 
unanswered. When Busybody Bat got no re- 
sponse to his knocking on Crystal’s window he 
thought perhaps the King had learned of her 
nightly wanderings and confined her in some 
other room in the castle. He slept all day, so 
knew nothing of the dismay in the wood when 
the Princess could not be found. The King 
was very angry, as well as frightened, and 


WONDER-OAK 


109 


rushed about, ordering everyone to search here 
and search there and blaming this one and 
that one for her disappearance. The fairies 
flew about among the dying flowers and trees, 
but soon it was plain to everyone that the 
Princess Crystal, the heir to the throne of 
Fairyland, had mysteriously disappeared. Mes- 
sengers were sent to the lords, asking aid, 
and they came with all their soldiers to help 
in the search. The wasps and the bees buzzed 
loudly over the fields, and the Partridge Berry 
Twins flew at once to the mouth of the creek; 
but Mother Red-wing could only tell them that 
Crystal had not been there. When they flew 
home they were crying so hard they could 
not even see the willow trees, and so knew 
nothing of the new house building among their 
branches. 

As more and more messengers returned to 
the castle with the same story, the Queen wept 
harder and harder and the King raged more 
and more. At last he called for his favorite 
Monarch and announced his intention of find- 
ing her himself. High in the air he sailed, 
asking of all the winged creatures if they had 
seen the Princess Crystal. Close over the earth 
he skimmed, inquiring of the ants and beetles. 


110 


WONDER-OAK 


At the moist edge of the wood road he found 
sleepy Closed Gentian. 

“Have you seen my daughter? Has the 
Princess Crystal passed this way?” he shouted 
in her ear. 

But Closed Gentian only shook her head and 
murmured, drowsily: “I have not seen anyone. 
I had my eyes shut.” 

The Queen sent for Busybody Bat and im- 
plored him to find Godmother and tell her of 



Closed Gentian only shook her head and murmured, drowsily: 
“I have not seen anyone. I had my eyes shut” 


Crystal’s disappearance. Bat was quite alarmed, 
as he knew nothing of the Princess’s daylight 
visits to the creek, and the Partridge Berry 
Twins were too frightened to tell anything they 
knew. With their arms around each other, 
they sat in the corner and cried. They thought 
perhaps she had flown across the lake to join 



WONDER-OAK 


111 


Grobbo, and shivered and shook as they im- 
agined the King’s wrath when he should find 
it out. At last the King began to suspect that 
she might have done this, but Ovenbird, who 
came from the Indian wood to teach his evening 
classes, reported that she had not been there. 
Then indeed were the Partridge Berry Twins 
quite hopeless, and feared more than ever to 
tell of her trips to the creek. The King refused 
to allow Bat to go for Godmother 

“That woman has meddled enough in my 
affairs,” he declared. “If she had not brought 
Grobbo to the castle, all this would not have 
happened. I am King of the Fairies, and here- 
after I shall rule my own kingdom!” 

“It is not much of a kingdom you have now,” 
sobbed the Queen. “I do wish you would send 
for Grobbo and not be so stubborn. He was 
always so fond of Crystal. I feel sure he could 
find her.” 

This only made the King more obstinate. 
“No!” he roared. “Never! I have banished 
him from the kingdom. My daughter will 
soon be found, and without his help. Colum- 
bine, send the soldiers out again.” 

Night and day the search went on until 
Crystal had been gone nearly a week and no 


WONDER-OAK 


112 

trace of her had been found. Busybody Bat 
hunted so diligently every night that he had no 
time to fly across the lake and tell Grobbo. 
Besides, he kept hoping that she would be 
found, and he did not want to let Grobbo know 
she was lost if he could help it. At last his 
courage gave out, and he went to bed very 
early one morning, fully determined to cross 
the lake that night and bring Grobbo back 
with him, regardless of the King’s anger. But 
that evening, when the King returned to the 
castle, unsuccessful as the rest, he found the 
fairies gathered in the dry, brown courtyard, 
tired, discouraged, their wings drooping with 
weariness. 

“Send for Grobbo!” they shouted as they 
saw him. “He will find the Princess. Look 
about you — see the wreck of your kingdom. 
Think of your lost daughter. We want our 
Councilor! We demand our Grobbo! Bid him 
return and save the Princess and the kingdom! 
Send for Grobbo /” 

Skunk Cabbage, cowering in the wood, heard 
the mighty shout and shuddered. Busybody 
Bat, sleeping, hanging to a tree, heard it and 
woke, flying at once to the castle to see what 
it was all about. 


WONDER-OAK 


113 


The King looked around him — at the trees, 
shorn of many of their leaves, at the dying ferns 
and flowers. He thought of the castle where 
the Queen wept all day long. He thought of 
Crystal herself, his only daughter, so lovely 
and so loving, and he began to realize what he 
had done. He shivered in the desolate court- 
yard as he thought what his willfulness had 
cost. He had lost his dear daughter. He was 
losing his kingdom. 

“I will send for him!” he cried, loudly, and 
wiped his eyes as he said it. “But who can go? 
Who knows in what part of the lonely wood he 
may be?” 

“I’ll go — I’ll go!” shouted Busybody Bat, and 
raced through the wood toward the lake. On 
the way he overtook Skunk Cabbage, waddling 
away from the castle as fast as his fat legs 
would take him. 

“Hurry — hurry, O, great Councilor,” jeered 
Bat as he flew by him. “I am going for your 
friend Grobbo. Probably you are on the way 
to meet him. He will be glad to see you.” 

He flew on, and Skunk Cabbage, falling down 
in fright, crept under a rock and hid. 

Back in the courtyard the King was sobbing 
and crying. “O, my dear daughter,” he wailed. 


114 


WONDER-OAK 


“And O, my poor kingdom! What a sight for 
Grobbo when he returns! He worked so hard 
to make it beautiful. And my little daughter 
worked too — O, dear — 0, dear!” 

The fairies looked at each other. Then, one 
by one, they slipped away to their plants and 
trees and whispered to them as they waited 
through the long night for the return of Busy- 
body Bat and Grobbo. 


CHAPTER VIII 


S he reached the shore Bat saw a 
long line of canoes approaching. 
In the first one were Grobbo and 
Painted Trillium. Grobbo was 
leaning forward, anxiously scan- 
ning the shore. Behind them 
came the whole tribe of Indian 
Fairies. The canoes leaped 
rapidly through the water at 
each powerful sweeping stroke 
of the ash-seed paddles. 

Trillium’s keen eyes spied Bat in the air, 
and he spoke to Grobbo. 

“What does this mean?” shouted Grobbo, as 
Bat sank toward them. “Why have you not 
been to the Indian wood? Where is my Prin- 
cess? For many nights now she has failed to 
answer my signals. I could wait no longer, 
so have come, in spite of the King’s commands, 
to find out what has happened.” 

“Alas! Grobbo,” answered Bat, “the Princess 
Crystal is lost.” 



115 


116 


WONDER-OAK 


“Lost?” gasped Grobbo. “Lost! And you 
did not tell me! When did this happen?” 

“More than a week ago,” replied Bat. “We 
have hunted everywhere, but she cannot be 
found. I did not tell you, because from hour 
to hour I hoped for good news, and I thought 
your troubles were heavy enough. It is well 
you have come. I was on my way even now 
to bid you return to the Fairy Kingdom. The 
King recalls you from exile, and implores you 
to find his daughter.” 

Before Grobbo could reply, four tiny lights 
appeared, flashing in the grass of the meadow. 
He and Bat both saw them. 

“The signals!” cried Bat. “Can it be that 
the Princess has returned?” 

“O, Grobbo,” called two trembling little 
voices, “dear Grobbo, wait a minute. O, we 
are so frightened!” 

As the canoe grounded on the sand and 
Grobbo leaped ashore, the Partridge Berry 
Twins pushed their way through the thick 
shrubs, hand in hand, and carrying the fireflies 
that he had sent to Crystal. 

“O, Bat,” they panted, all out of breath, 
“you went so fast we could not keep up with 
you, and it was such a long way that at last 


WONDER-OAK 


117 


we could not fly at all and had to descend to 
the earth and walk, and we have hurried as 
fast as we could. There are such queer creatures 
abroad on the ground at night. Grobbo, we 
knew that Bat was sent to bring you back, 
and we have come to tell you something. We 
didn’t dare to tell the King, but every day our 
dear Crystal went to the mouth of the creek 



As . . . Grobbo leaped ashore, the Partridge Berry Twins pushed 
their way through the thick shrubs, hand in hand, and 
carrying the fireflies that he had sent to Crystal 


to watch the Indian woods, hoping for a glimpse 
of you. Sometimes she went alone. She must 
have gone there on the day she was lost, but 
she never reached Mother Red-wing’s nest 
where she used to rest. We know we ought to 
have told of this before — O, we are so sorry. 
But now you are here it will be all right. Please 
go quickly and find her.” 



118 


WONDER-OAK 


“The meadow about the creek has been 
thoroughly searched,” interrupted Bat. 

Trillium stepped forward, saying: “My war- 
riors shall sail up the creek at once, Sir Coun- 
cilor. In their light canoes they can paddle 
silently its whole length, and their eyes, trained 
to woodcraft, shall search each dark nook for 
the pale Princess. We will go now.” 

“Good,” replied Grobbo, “and I will meet you 
soon at the bridge to hear what success you 
have.” 

The Indians vanished in the darkness, and 
Grobbo turned to comfort the Partridge Berry 
Twins. 

“I know you would not do anything to hurt 
the Princess,” he said, “and Bat says the creek 
has been searched.” 

“We hunted there ourselves,” they answered, 
“but we could not find a trace of her. O, 
Grobbo, we are so glad you have come. All 
the fairies are watching for you; but we couldn’t 
wait — we had to come and meet you, and tell 
you what cowards we have been. Come now, 
let us hurry back, and you will tell us what 
to do.” 

They hastened anxiously homeward, Grobbo 
questioning them all the way. In the orchard 


WONDER-OAK 


119 


they met his own company of guards, on their 
way to greet him. The King received him 
joyfully, and begged him to find the Princess, 
commanding everyone to obey his slightest order. 

“Summon all to the audience chamber,” bade 
Grobbo, “and let each one tell what he knows 
regarding the disappearance of the Princess 
Crystal.” 

But no one except the Partridge Berry Twins 
knew a single thing to tell. They stood bravely 
before the assembled company and repeated 
what they had already told Grobbo. Lord 
Red Clover, who had had charge of the search- 
ing party in the meadow, was very sure she 
must have gone elsewhere. He was positive 
she was not near the creek. 

“She must be sought from one end of the 
kingdom to the other,” announced Grobbo. 
“Every house must be entered, and every nook 
and cranny explored. Each one must do his 
part. We must lose no time. Sir Mountain 
Laurel, do you and your strong soldiers fly 
among the treetops. Enter the home of every 
bird, and note carefully every leaf. Lord Red 
Clover, look again through the meadows. Do 
not miss a blade of grass. Lord Cardinal 
Flower, watch the banks of the streams and the 


no 


WONDER-OAK 


hidden pools in the depths of the swamp. 
Call the hurrying trout that dart along the 
swirling brooks, and tell them that the Princess 
Crystal is lost. Ask their aid. Busybody Bat, 
good, faithful friend, go among the moles that 
burrow in the earth and the field mice in their 
hidden homes. Let every creature ask for news 
of the Princess Crystal.” 

Master Owl came forward, his great round 
eyes filled with tears, saying: “I cannot see to 
fly abroad in the daytime, but I can write 
beautifully, and every night I will go through 
the woods, writing the sad tidings on the 
smooth brown fungus that grows on the trees. 
Perhaps some one who has seen her may read 
and give us help.” 

“I will sound my loud rattle through the 
land,” volunteered Kingfisher. “If anyone is 
holding her in captivity, he will hear me and 
be afraid.” 

“Away, then,” ordered Grobbo, “and lose 
no time.” 

The greatest sorrow reigned in the Fairy 
Wood. Sir Mountain Laurel, high among the 
treetops, heard the leaves sighing, and the birds 
on their nests asked, “Have you found the 
Princess?” 


WONDER-OAK 


m 

Red Clover, in the fields, found the Crickets 
and Katydids sad and silent. Daddy-Longlegs 
tottered after him, saying, “Haven’t they found 
that poor child yet?” 

In the woods, Walking Fern hurried about, 
looking behind the rocks. Cardinal Flower, 
among the streams, found the Ladies Tresses 
tearing their hair in sorrow, and all the Whirligig 
Beetles were dashing madly around on the 
water, looking down at the sandy bottoms and 
calling: “Where is she? Where is she? Where 
can she be?” 

Grobbo himself, as soon as the council was 
over, flew to the bridge, where Trillium was 
awaiting him. 

“Have you seen anything?” he inquired at 
once. 

“No,” said Trillium, “but I have remembered 
something. As I paddled over the dark water 
I thought of the Pale Princess and the night 
she danced on the sandy beach. I remembered 
that when I showed her the home of Ovenbird, 
the Wise One, a lame caterpillar rose out of 
the grass and threatened her. She told me that 
unknowingly she had done him an injury when 
he was small. Do you think that he has been 
in this neighborhood lately?” Then Grobbo 


122 


WONDER-OAK 


suddenly remembered the day when Crystal 
had pulled Caterpillar from his silken carpet 
and the threats he had made then. His heart 
grew heavy. 

“The caterpillar was big at the time of the 
revels. He would be very powerful now.” 

Grobbo said, decidedly: “It may be that he 
has something to do with the disappearance of 
the Princess. We must inquire if anyone has 
seen him.” 

Columbine and a detail of the Guards went 
at sunrise through the wood, asking if any had 
seen Lame Caterpillar. Red Salamander, warm- 
ing himself on his rock, told them that Cater- 
pillar had inquired of him the way to the beach, 
but that was before the revels. No one could 
be found who had seen him since. 

All the morning Grobbo flew up and down 
the creek on a swift dragonfly, hunting among 
the clumps of haughty Royal Fern, looking into 
the water and among the bushes along the 
banks. He found only shy Maidenhair Fern, 
who shook her head at his questions and hardly 
dared whisper her bashful answers. He failed 
to see the great brown house on a willow branch, 
hidden as it was by the slender leaves. Neither 
did he see Godmother sitting by the side of 


WONDER-OAK 


ns 

the house and watching him with bright eyes. 
At last he thought of Little Son John and the 
Daddy-man with the keen sight. Perhaps they 
had seen Crystal — he would go and ask them. 

As Godmother saw him fly away she smiled 
and touched the side of the house with her 
wand. “Sleep peacefully, little one,” she said. 
“Help will soon be here. Happier days are 
dawning for the fairy kingdom.” 

Little Son John was blowing loudly on a 
willow whistle. Grobbo did not heed the noise, 
but flew straight at him. 

“Hullo,” said John, calmly. “See my new 
whistle?” 

“Have you seen the Princess?” demanded 
Grobbo. 

“No,” replied John, “nor I haven’t seen any 
other fairies either. She said I would, but I 
didn’t, not a one. Kingfisher’s round though. 
I heard him this morning. Are you afraid of 
him now?” 

“He is helping us this time. The Princess 
is lost and he is hunting for her.” 

“My Daddy made this whistle,” announced 
John, with no interest in the Princess. “It’s a 
willow whistle. He was down in the meadow 
by the creek, and he saw all those willows, and 


124 


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he made me this whistle. There’s a cater- 
pillar’s nest down there too. It’s an awful 
big one, my Daddy says, and he’s goin’ to 
bring it home to me, and we’ll keep it in the 
sitting room, and next spring a big red and 
brown moth will come out of it. Ain’t it funny 
caterpillars grow into moths?” 

Grobbo was not listening. 4 ‘Where is the 
nest?” he inquired, hastily. 

“Most down to the mouth of the creek, my 
Daddy says. It’s hard to find, the leaves are 
so thick, but he found it. The caterpillar’s 
in it now, but he’s sound asleep — Say, don’t 
you hurt my nest, will you?” John had to 
shout his question, for Grobbo was racing away. 

“Well, sir,” said Little Son John to himself, 
“he appears to be in somewhat of a hurry.” 

Grobbo rushed back to the castle and called 
the Partridge Berry Twins. They cried out 
with delight when they saw his face. “You 
have heard good news — what is it?” 

“Come with me,” said Grobbo. “I think I 
know where my Princess is, but we will not 
tell anyone till we are quite sure.” 

He buckled his sword more tightly about 
him as they flew away. He flew so fast that 
the Partridge Berry Twins were ‘ quite out of 


WONDER-OAK 


1 25 


breath trying to keep up with him, and could 
not ask any questions. But they smiled once 
more and clasped each other’s hands tightly, 
they were so happy to think that Grobbo was 
going to find Crystal. In among the willow 
leaves he dashed, and the twins followed. 
After a short hunt he found Caterpillar’s house, 
huge and brown, without a door or window to 
be seen. 

“Crystal,” he called, softly, fearing to wake 
Caterpillar. “Crystal, dear, are you there?” 

There was no answer. The Partridge Berry 
Twins exclaimed in horror, “Our Princess is 
not shut up in this prison, is she?” 

“I am going to find out,” replied Grobbo, 
drawing his sword. 

“O, be careful! Be careful!” shrieked the 
Twins. “You will kill her with your sword.” 

Grobbo bade them be silent, and they watched 
him fearfully as he cautiously cut his way into 
the house of Lame Caterpillar. When he had 
made an opening he peered in. The Twins 
peeked over his shoulder. 

There, in the dark house, tightly bound with 
ropes of silk, lay the Princess Crystal. Her 
eyes were closed and she did not move. Grobbo 
climbed carefully in and returned, bearing her 


126 


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in his arms. As he laid her on a twig between 
the pitying Twins Godmother appeared. 

“Do not be alarmed,” she said. “The Prin- 
cess is only asleep. No harm has come to her. 
I have kept her safely, knowing that you would 
find her, Grobbo. Soon she will wake. No, 
do not cut the bonds with your sword.” 

She stooped and touched the silken ropes, 
which fell away as Crystal stirred and, waking, 
looked into Grobbo’s face. Behind him she 
saw her loving ladies-in-waiting and Godmother, 
all as happy as could be. 

“Grobbo,” she said, “you came, didn’t you? 
I called you when Caterpillar bound me, and 
while he was spinning his house — afterward I 
fell asleep.” 

“We must send word to the castle at once,” 
declared the Partridge Berry Twins, “but who 
will go? We can’t — we shall never leave our 
Princess again.” 

“I shall not leave her either,” said Grobbo, 
firmly. 

“Godmother mustn’t go,” said Crystal her- 
self. “I don’t want her to go. As soon as I 
am rested we will all fly back together.” 

The Twins would not allow this, saying that 
after her long imprisonment she should not 


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127 

fly so far. They looked all about for a messenger, 
and at last they spied Cranberry, wading across 
the bog. 

“Cranberry, Cranberry,” they called, “the 
Princess is found! Will you go to the castle, 
please, and ask the King to send the royal 
chariot here?” 

Cranberry flew joyfully away, but after a 
little while Crystal insisted on starting to meet 
the chariot. “I feel perfectly well,” she urged, 
“and I am so anxious to get home.” 

They were all talking so fast that they failed 
to notice the great gray clouds racing up from 
the west and shutting out the sun. At the 
edge of the wood they met the King and Queen 
hurrying to meet them, and followed by the 
whole Court, excited and rejoicing. The King 
and Queen embraced Crystal while the fairies 
shouted: “Our Princess is found by Grobbo! 
Hurrah! Hurrah! Grobbo has saved the 
Princess Crystal!” 

Just then the gray clouds spread their arms 
and scattered the good rain over the dry earth. 
Columbine and the soldiers flew to a spotted 
beech tree; each soldier picked a leaf and hur- 
ried back to a fairy with it. Under their green 
umbrellas the whole Court whirled merrily on 


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the rising wind. Through the orchard, past 
Son John’s house, they danced in glee, mad 
with joy because their Princess was found, be- 
cause their beloved Grobbo was with them once 
more, and because the rain had come to save 
the wood. 

John’s mother, looking out of the rain- 
streaked window, said: “The drought is broken 
and the wind is rising. See it whirl the leaves. 
They are falling early this year — it has been 
so dry.” 

Into the castle swarmed the fairies, impatient 
to hear of Crystal’s adventures, while outside 
the clouds leaned closer and closer over the 
wood, reaching down to pour the rain where 
it was most needed. 

Crystal sat on the throne beside her father, 
who held her close to him. Godmother and the 
Queen were at her other hand, and Grobbo 
stood behind the King. A hush fell on the 
smiling company as she began to speak. 

“It all began long ago,” she said. “When I 
was a little girl I did an injury to a caterpillar. 
I did not mean to, and I thought I was helping 
him, but when he was moulting I pulled him 
from his support. In pulling off his old skin 
he lost two of his legs, and so he was always 


WONDER-OAK 


129 


lame. He was very angry, and threatened to 
do me harm. On the night of the revels I saw 
him again, large and strong, but still lame, and 
once more he threatened me. The Indian 
Chief, Trillium, tried to kill him, but he escaped. 

4 'After Grobbo left us I went often to the 
creek — why, you all know. On the day I dis- 
appeared I heard some one call softly from the 
willows as I flew over. I alighted to see who 
called. From his hiding place behind a branch 
Lame Caterpillar reared and seized me. I was 
too startled and frightened to cry out. 

“ ‘You shall stay with me,’ he said. T shall 
build me a house here on this willow branch, 
where I shall sleep through the winter. You 
made me lame, and after my winter sleep I 
shall come forth a moth, but perhaps I shall 
be a maimed thing, unable to fly. Then it 
shall be your duty to wait upon me, to procure 
food for me, and to shield me from my enemies. 
You were the cause of my misfortune — it is 
only right that you should live with me and 
serve me.’ 

“He bound me with sticky ropes of silk that 
hardened and held me fast. He was large and 
strong, and he stood on his hind legs, reaching 
from branch to branch, stretching the ropes on 


130 


WONDER-OAK 


which he built his house. He worked very 
fast while I watched for help. No one came, 
and soon I could not see the blue sky or the 
leaves for the silky glistening network that 
surrounded us. It grew thicker and thicker. 
For a day and a night he worked, weaving the 
thick strong walls of his house. Another day 
and a night divided it into two rooms, an 
inner and an outer, and then he rested. He 
did not talk much now, but while he rested he 
watched me with his wicked eyes, and told me 
again how I should serve him when he waked 
from his winter sleep. Soon his words ' grew 
slower and slower and at last he spoke no more.” 

“Did he die?” interrupted Grobbo. “I saw 
no caterpillar when I took you from his house.” 

“He was there,” replied Crystal, “but I do 
not wonder that you did not recognize him. 
He had changed his greenish suit with its gay 
blue trimmings, and the buttons of blue and 
yellow and red, for a coat of shining brown 
armor. Encased in this, he sleeps the winter 
away, coming out in the spring a great brown 
moth.” 

“Lame Caterpillar shall never wake,” de- 
clared Grobbo. “I go now to kill him — who 
will follow me?” 


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131 


The King jumped up from the throne, Colum- 
bine strode forward, and the Royal Guards 
saluted as one man. The Bee Brigade and the 
Wasp Reserves joined them. 

Grobbo led them to the house in the willow 
tree, and there, on a branch sat Downy Wood- 
pecker, cleaning his bill. 

“What’s all this?” inquired Downy. “Is 
there an invasion, that the army comes in 
full force?” 

“We come to kill Lame Caterpillar, who 
captured the Princess Crystal and would have 
made her his slave!” 

“Caterpillar? Caterpillar?” asked Downy. 
“The caterpillar that lived in this house? 
Well, you needn’t bother — I’ve just eaten him 
for supper!” 


CHAPTER IX 


IE safe return of the Princess 
transformed the sorrow in the 
wood to joy. Once more the 
fairies went happily about their 
work; soft showers came at night, 
the flowers bloomed again, and 
the whole wood was beautiful as 
it had been in the spring. 

The King was so changed that 
his subjects hardly knew him. He 
flew from one end of the kingdom to the other 
accompanied by Crystal and Grobbo, praising 
and encouraging the fairies, making friends 
with the birds and their young families, and 
telling the squirrels and chipmunks which trees 
would bear the greatest harvest of nuts. He 
had proclaimed that Grobbo should marry the 
Princess Crystal, but had begged to be allowed 
to keep her with him until the summer work 
was over. Crystal and Grobbo were glad to 
wait until the fairies should be at leisure. 

Of course a new castle was necessary for the 
Princess and her husband, so the King and 
132 



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133 


Grobbo decided to make a tour of the wood 
in search of a proper habitation. Downy Wood- 
pecker and Chickadee went with them, Downy 
to sound the walls and see if they were hollow, 
and Chickadee to examine the state of the 
bark. All the trees learned of the quest, and 
each was wishing he could be chosen, for it 
was a great honor to be the home of the Prin- 
cess Crystal. They all washed the dust from 
their leaves very carefully in an August shower, 
then sent for West Wind to come and sway 
them gently as the King and his party passed 
by, in order to show all their beauties. Some 
of the trees had asked their bird friends to help 
them, and as the King rode past, bursts of sweet 
music caused him to look deep among the 
branches where the singers were hidden. Other 
trees murmured their good points as he paused 
to rest, but, finally, a grand white birch, not 
far from the royal oak, was selected. Its trunk 
was large and roomy, its beautiful white bark 
had never been despoiled by the hand of man, 
its pointed leaves waved gracefully in the 
breezes, and, best of all, it was near the castle 
and the Royal Storehouse, and would probably 
be protected by Little Son John’s father, the 
powerful Daddy-man. 


134 


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To make sure of this, Crystal and Grobbo 
paid another visit to Son John. They found 
him inclined to be cross with Grobbo, as he 
had been to the willows with his father and 
found his caterpillar’s nest torn and ruined. 
However, when Crystal told him her experiences 
he grew very indignant, saying: “Well, sir, that 
old caterpillar was a regular villain, he was! 
I’ll burn his old house up in my Daddy’s fall 
bonfire — that’s what I’ll do!” He also promised 
to ask his father to protect the white birch tree. 

The hot summer sun now ripened the berries. 
Black Alder donned her scarlet necklace, Clem- 
atis clambered over the walls, Woodbine painted 
her leaves red, and the air was full of the buzz 
and drone of many insects. The Spring Fairies 
were having a vacation and ran about the wood, 
playing and frolicking. They visited shy Gray 
Rabbit and her babies in the nest in the field. 
Then they flew to the trunks of the maple trees 
and watched the Ichneumon Fly bore deep into 
the tree and leave her eggs to hatch and destroy 
the tree’s enemies. But, best of all, they liked 
to catch the lively Leaf Hoppers and measure 
their long jumps. Perched on the broad maple 
leaves, each fairy would choose a Leaf Hopper 
of a different color — green, blue, white, or 


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135 


mottled — and then they would put them all 
in a row and see which one would make the 
longest leap. Often one would jump way out 
of sight, leaving his owner staring helplessly 
about, and then how the other fairies would 
laugh ! 

Goldenrod, Tansy, the Purple and White 
Aster Sisters, lazy Closed Gentian and her 
cousin, Fringed Gentian, were busy now, but 
as the weeks went by the wood became less 
brilliant. The plants did not bear so many 
flowers, but in their places were plump, full 
seed-pods, waiting to burst and send their 
contents abroad to take root in the waiting 
earth and grow into more plants for the next 
season. 

The fairies had worked all summer in the hot 
sun and their dresses were faded and dull, 
so they could hardly be seen as they flitted 
about, helping their plants to send their seeds 
to all the best places, hiding some in the earth 
close to their mothers and sending others float- 
ing on the helpful winds, far away. The Par- 
tridge Berry Twins were having rather an easy 
time because Crystal did not take them on her 
long flights with the King and Grobbo. Yet 
they seemed happier than usual, and said they 


136 


WONDER-OAK 


had a great deal to do in order to get all their 
berries nice and red for the wedding. Their 
plants were different from all the rest. The 
little pink flowers grew in pairs, and each pair 
developed into a fat red berry with two round 
eyes. So the Partridge Berry Twins had to 
care for twice as many flowers as the other 
fairies — that is why they were twins, like their 
blossoms. Still, Chickadee, on his travels, often 
saw Cardinal Flower walking with Red Berry be- 
side the brook, while Berry Red seemed to be 
trying hard to coax her plants from beneath the 
trees in the wood out into the open meadow. 
Moreover, it seemed very necessary that Red 
Clover should help her in this endeavor. This 
all reminded Chickadee of Mountain Laurel, so 
one day he flew up the mountainside, and he 
was not one bit surprised to find Clematis 
climbing over the walls and bushes, pulling her 
vines higher up the slope, while Sir Mountain 
Laurel was approaching in the distance. 

“It’s all right— right — right!” sang Chickadee 
on his homeward way. “They’ll all be happy! 
Crystal’s happy! Grobbo’s happy! The King 
is happy too!” 

At last the fairies’ work was almost done. 
Godmother came back from her summer travels, 


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137 


and the wedding was fixed for the time of the 
Hunter’s Moon. Grobbo flew across to the 
Indian pines to tell Trillium and to invite him 
and his tribe to the ceremony. 

“I wish we could have had it in the warm 
summer time,” he said, “when all the flowers 
were so beautiful, but we couldn’t refuse the 
King’s request. Now the wood is dull and 
dreary, the winds blow cold and winter is on 
the way.” 



Trillium and his warriors flew southward and overtook Summer, 
already far from the Fairy Wood 

Trillium said nothing, but after Grobbo had 
gone home he and his warriors flew southward 
and overtook Summer, already far from the 
Fairy Wood. 

“Summer, dear Summer,” they begged, “come 
back to the Fairy Wood, if only for a few days. 
Our good friend Grobbo is to marry the Princess 


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WONDER-OAK 


Crystal, and he mourns because you have gone 
before the wedding. Do this for us, we beg 
of you!” 

And Summer consented! She came back to 
the woods with the Indians and hid in a sunny 
hollow among the dark pines till the morning 
of the wedding day. 

The fairies all felt that they needed new 
dresses for the festivities, so one evening all 
the spiders met in the grassy field near the 
Man’s orchard and spun and spun till in the 
morning, the whole field was covered with 
shining white webs of silk. Little Son John 
saw the white-spotted field, and putting his 
hands in his pockets and looking up at the sky 
as his Daddy did, announced to his mother: 
“Well, sir! This is goin’ to be a fine day. See 
the cobwebs on the grass.” 

Then the spiders folded up the silk and took 
it to the castle, where they sewed it into the 
fairy dresses. The Queen cut long strips from 
her store of colored silk, and each fairy sewed 
a band on her dress to match her flower. Colum- 
bine and the Guards had new uniforms with 
red and yellow borders. 

The birds with their young families came in 
great numbers to the wood, some of them 


WONDER-OAK 


139 


delaying their Southern journey until after 
the wedding. Many of them had already put 
on their winter dresses in honor of the occa- 
sion. 

When the trees learned that all the fairies 
were having new clothes, they whispered among 
themselves: “We are very shabby. We have 
worn these old green dresses all through the 
long, dusty summer. We really must have 
some new ones ourselves.” 

The Poplar shook her ringlets in great excite- 
ment, saying: “Let us do it in secret. Let us 
surprise the Princess Crystal.” 

They all thought that was a fine idea; so, 
after dark, Sumach ran swiftly north until she 
found Jack Frost. When he shook hands with 
her she blushed a rosy red, and hesitatingly 
told her story. Jack laughed his crackling 
laugh and agreed to grant her request. She 
hurried home, arriving just before sunrise, which 
was fortunate, as her cheeks were flushed, and 
some one would have surely noticed her, run- 
ning among the trees. 

And where was wicked Skunk Cabbage all 
these days? No one had heard of him since 
he disappeared on the day of Grobbo’s return. 
To be sure, no one had hunted for him as they 


140 


WONDER-OAK 


did for the Princess, but many had wondered 
where he could be, and Busybody Bat had 
often glanced about for him as he traveled 
through the woods at night. The King had 
revoked his order making Skunk Cabbage a 
councilor, but had not banished him from the 
kingdom. 

One day Yellowthroat, his grayish-green coat 
and yellow vest somewhat faded, but his little 
black mask as bright as ever, came flying among 
the turrets of the castle. From window to 
window he went, peeking in, and singing al- 
ways, “Follow me — follow me — follow me!” until 
the King and Queen, Crystal and Grobbo came 
at his call. Not a word would he say but 
“Follow me — follow me — follow me!” flying in 
front of them, coaxing them farther and farther 
away. They were so curious to know what he 
meant that they followed, down the wood road, 
across the meadow, and into the swamp. 

There, hidden behind a great rock, sat Skunk 
Cabbage, and he hid his face when he saw them. 
Yellowthroat gently pulled aside his great green 
arms, and the fairies exclaimed in wonder and 
admiration. For Skunk Cabbage was holding 
carefully a bulky nest, hiding it with his big 
hands, and driving away all enemies by his 


WONDER-OAK 


141 


foul odor. The nest was empty, but from the 
nearby thicket came soft mother-calls and the 
answering cries of young birds. 

“What does this mean?” inquired the Queen. 

And Yellowthroat explained: 

“My house was stolen by a Boy,” he said, 
“before I could raise my second brood. When 
we looked for a place to build again, all the 
desirable spots were taken, but as I flew about 
in despair, I found Skunk Cabbage here by 
this rock, breathless and afraid. I had heard 
from my father what a good friend he was to 
our race, so I had no hesitation in asking per- 
mission to build my house near him. T will 
hold it in my arms/ he replied, ‘if you will 
trust me, and I will faithfully guard your eggs 
and your babies. I have injured an innocent 
fairy, but perhaps if I help some one in need 
I may be forgiven.’ So we built our nest, and 
I and my family have grown to love Skunk 
Cabbage and to honor him as our protector. 
He has told me his story. Since we have heard 
of your wedding, 0 Councilor Grobbo, poor 
Skunk Cabbage has mourned because he could 
not see you and ask your forgiveness. So to- 
day I have brought you all here that you 
might see for yourselves how truly he has 


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WONDER-OAK 


repented. Forgive him, I beseech you — I be- 
seech you — I beseech you!” 

Skunk Cabbage hung his head, but the 
fairies surrounded him, assuring him of their 
forgiveness, and at last he said, “I shall be 
glad indeed to return to my own people, but 
what can I do with this nest?” 

“We do not need it any longer,” joyously 
replied Yellowthroat. “We shall fly South as 
soon as the wedding is over, and when we 
return next year we will build another.” 

“With me — with me!” insisted Skunk Cab- 
bage, as he went happily back to the Fairy 
Wood. 

The night before the wedding a merry white 
elf in a pointed cap danced through the wood, 
leaping lightly from tree to tree. It was Jack 
Frost, come as he had promised, to bring the 
trees their new dresses. They were all awake, 
watching for him. Tall White Pine saw him 
first and spread the news till it reached the 
short little shrubs and bushes, who stood on 
tiptoe, stretching up their arms and calling: 
“Here we are, down here in the shadow. Don’t 
forget us, Jack Frost — we want new dresses too.” 

Jack laughed and ran gaily about, touching 
them all with his frosty fingers, working mar- 


WONDER-OAK 


143 


velous changes. But wherever his feet touched 
the earth the flowers and ferns cried, “Keep 
away! Keep away! You are killing us!” and 
mourned when they saw the dry brown foot- 
prints that he left behind him. 

White Ash chose a purple dress, the Beeches 
a deep rich brown; the Poplar picked out a gay 
gown of bright yellow, while the White Oak 
castle was very grand and imposing in many 
shades of dark red. The beautiful White Birch 
that waited for Crystal selected a dress of 
palest gold. The Elms had shed their leaves 
already, and were mourning and holding their 
bare arms behind the other trees. Jack stood 
before them, puzzled. 

“I don’t know what I can do for you,” he 
said, shaking his head. 

Poison Ivy, clinging to their trunks with her 
three-fingered hands, spoke. “Why not change 
my dress?” she asked. “I will spread myself 
about them, and if they do not wave their 
arms too much, no one will notice that their 
leaves are gone.” 

The Elms gladly agreed, and Jack gave 
Poison Ivy a red dress with golden trimmings, 
and white berry-buttons, so grand that the 
Elms stood proudly forth again, in gorgeous 


144 WONDER-OAK 

clinging robes that swathed them from head 
to feet. 

The Pines, the Firs, and the Hemlocks de- 
clined the bright clothing, saying, ‘‘We are old 
and do not like changing fashions; but if you 
will touch up our last year’s branches, we shall 
be much obliged to you.” 

So Jack merely gave them a few yellowish 
trimmings here and there. 

When all was done, and the Fairy Wood 
looked like a huge bunch of bright flowers with 
a spray of green now and then, Jack Frost 
scampered back to the North again. As he 
hurried along a deep voice rolled through the 
night: “I wish I had a nice new dress for the 
wedding — I wish I had a nice new dress for 
the wedding!” He looked all about to see 
where the voice came from, and again it sounded, 
“Up here — away up here!” and at last he saw 
it was the Mountain speaking. 

“I am dingy and gray — I wish I had a new 
dress!” 

“You shall have a beautiful one,” declared 
accommodating little Jack Frost, and he flew 
up the mountain, decking the trees at the base 
in reds and yellows, trimming and freshening 
the evergreens, and the bare stone top he 


WONDER-OAK 


145 


powdered with glittering frost and snow that 
shone all through the wedding day and sparkled 
in the bright light of the Hunter’s Moon that 
night. 

Busybody Bat had followed Jack Frost all 
through the wood and part way to the moun- 
tain. Now he was cold and shivering. He saw 
all the trees in red and yellow and brown. He 
saw the mountain in its new white cap. He 
looked at his own shabby brown suit, all rusty 
at the edges, and he began to cry. 

“I am the only creature in the wood without 
a new dress for Crystal’s wedding. She will 
think I don’t care, and I do love her so much!” 
he sobbed. “What can I do?” 

He wondered who could help him, and all at 
once he thought of Trillium and his Indian 
warriors. “They paint themselves,” he cried, 
hopefully, “in bright colors like the trees. Per- 
haps Trillium will paint me — I don’t know, 
but I’ll go see.” He dried his tears and flew 
quickly to the Indian pines. 

Just before dawn, when everyone was asleep, 
Summer ran through the wood. She went so 
fast the flowers could not see her, but she left 
behind soft breezes and her feet warmed the 
cold earth. In Jack Frost’s footprints she ran, 


146 WONDER-OAK 

and the sorrowing plants revived, astonished 
and rejoicing. 

“We dreamed the cruel winter!” they cried 
to each other. “Summer is still here.” Buds 
that had thought it too cold to bloom now 
changed their minds, and bright flowers appeared 
throughout the wood. 

Purple Finch woke in a brilliant tree and 
looked about him in amazement. “Wake up!” 
he sang. “O, wake up — wake up — the sunrise 
has fallen on the trees! Wake and behold the 
miracle !” 

In the proud trees the wondering birds 
awoke, the wood rang with their songs, the sun 
rose red behind the glistening mountain and 
greeted woods and fields, newly clothed in 
honor of Crystal’s wedding day! 


CHAPTER X 


ED BERRY woke first, then 
Berry Red opened her eyes. 
They smiled at each other. 

“This is Crystal’s wedding 
day, sister,” said Red Berry. 

“Yes, sister — Crystal's wed- 
ding day!” replied Berry Red. 

Then they laughed aloud and hugged each 
other. 

“Let us wake Clematis,” proposed Red Berry. 
They scrambled out of bed, and without wait- 
ing to dress, wrapped themselves in warm 
thistle-down capes and hurried upstairs. Clem- 
atis was just rubbing her sleepy eyes. “Wake 
up — wake up!” they laughed at her. “This is 
Crystal’s wedding day!” 

Clematis sat on the side of the bed and 
gathered them in her arms. “Yes,” she an- 
swered, “I know it. Crystal's wedding day!” 

All three rocked back and forth, laughing, 
and singing softly, “Crystal’s wedding day — 
yes, Crystal’s wedding day!” 

Clematis wrapped a corner of Berry Red’s 
147 



148 WONDER-OAK 

cape about her, and they hurried to Crystal’s 
chamber. 

“Wake — wake, Princess!” they called. “It is 
your wedding day!” 

Crystal ran to the window to see if the sun 
was shining, and cried out in amazement: “The 
trees! Look at the trees! What has happened 
to them?” 

Clematis and the Partridge Berry Twins hur- 
ried to the window. A new world lay before 
them. 

“O, see the mountain,” cried Clematis. “See 
its snowy cap!” 

Red Berry leaned far out and looked toward 
the creek, while Berry Red gazed only at the 
meadow. 

“Who has done this?” asked Crystal. “Let 
us dress quickly and call the others.” 

In front of the castle they found the fairies 
gathering, exclaiming and wondering at the 
beautiful sight. Many of them reported that 
their plants had put forth unexpected blos- 
soms, and great was the astonishment. If 
Godmother knew what caused the transforma- 
tion, she would not tell, but only smiled at 
their questions. 

Suddenly a flapping and fluttering was heard, 


WONDER-OAK 


149 


and Busybody Bat sank exhausted in their 
midst. His wings were trembling and weak from 
long flight, and his soft, furry coat was draggled 
and dirty. 

“Bat, dear Bat,” cried Crystal, running to 
his side, “what is the matter? Where have 
you been?” 

Bat turned his head toward the sound of 
her voice, and tears streamed from his eyes, 
blinded by the bright sunlight. 

“Princess,” he said, sorrowfully, “I have 
been hunting for a new dress for your wedding. 
Even the trees are freshly clothed — ” 

“The trees?” interrupted many voices. “Do 
you know what happened to the trees?” 

“Yes, indeed! As I flew about the wood 
last night I saw Jack Frost come down from 
the North. In the clear moonlight I saw him 
fly from tree to tree, touching them with his 
icy fingers, taking away their green dresses and 
leaving these gay ones. I wanted to ask him 
to give me a new dress too, but his cold breath 
chilled me, stiffening my wings so I could not 
overtake him. Then I thought of Trillium 
and Moccasin Flower, who paint themselves 
with many colors, and I flew across the lake 
to ask their aid. I thought perhaps they would 


150 


WONDER-OAK 


decorate my dingy brown, but though I searched 
the pine woods through and through I found 
no one. The dawn was coming, so I hurried 
home, but the cruel light caught me and I 
could scarcely find my way. And alas! not 
only have I no new dress, but my old coat is 
so ruffled and soiled that I am ashamed to be 
seen!” 

Crystal stooped over him, stroking his head. 
‘‘Never mind, dear Bat,” she said. “We should 
not know you in a gorgeous coat. Your silky 
brown suit is so dear to us we should not want 
you to change. Have you not given us many 
proofs of your kind heart, shining bright with 
loving thoughts? Is not Busybody Bat the 
friend of all of us?” 

The King approached, saying: “You must 
stay here to-day and rest. In one of the inner 
rooms of the castle you shall hang and sleep 
in the dark, refreshing yourself until evening.” 

“Yes, yes,” cried the Partridge Berry Twins, 
“and his coat shall be brushed with brushes 
of thistledown and combed with a hemlock twig 
until it is smooth and shiny.” 

Columbine led Bat into the castle, where he 
spread his broad wings, while two soldiers 
brushed him with long soothing strokes until 


WONDER-OAK 


151 


he forgot his troubles and fell into a deep sleep, 
snoring loudly all day long. 

Later in the forenoon four guards brought 
Skunk Cabbage’s great chair out from the 
castle, and here he sat in the courtyard, greeting 
his old friends and answering their questions 
about his experiences with Yellowthroat and his 
family. The King had caused Solomon’s Seal 



Skunk Cabbage . . . sat in the courtyard, greeting his old friends 

to write a full account of the occurrence, and 
Master Owl had posted it on the wall by the 
castle door where all might read. Nearly every 
one stopped to read it, then hurried to Skunk 
Cabbage to shake his hand, but they were 
obliged to do it very gently, because his arms 
and hands were lame and sore from holding 
the nest all summer. Witch-Hazel had bathed 
and bandaged them, and Self-Heal stood by his 
side. As he sat there he could see the Squirrels- 


152 


WONDER-OAK 


and Chipmunks hurrying by in the treetops, 
bringing their wedding gifts to the Princess. 

They made many trips, bringing nuts and 
acorns from their secret hiding places to store 
the larders of the birch tree. “Hurry, hurry, 
hurry!” they called as they scuttled along the 
branches, leaping from tree to tree. “Hurry, 
hurry, hurry, hurry!” 

Every little while the Partridge Berry Twins 
or Clematis would bustle by, looking very 
important and always seeming on the verge 
of telling some wonderful piece of news. Once 
Berry Red nearly said something, but she 
clapped her hand over her mouth in time and 
ran away laughing. Altogether it was very 
exciting and mysterious, and Skunk Cabbage 
was so happy to be at home again. 

Early in the afternoon Downy Woodpecker 
appeared. He came alone because he had been 
in the Man’s orchard, excavating his new winter 
house in the branch of an apple tree. When 
Mrs. Downy came later he greeted her affec- 
tionately, as they were on the best of terms, 
although she was not to spend the winter in 
the new house, but would live alone in the 
old one, made a year before. Truant Officer 
Kingfisher rattled through the wood, arousing 


WONDER-OAK 


153 


the curiosity of a flock of Jays, who flapped 
after him, calling, “Sa-ay, say, say!” They 
were such inquisitive birds, always trying to 
ask questions, but never getting beyond their 
monotonous “Say, say, say.” The Crows fol- 
lowed the Jays, drawling, hoarsely, “Wha-a-at, 
wha-a-at, wha-a-at?” and settled on the white 
pines, patiently waiting to see what would 
happen. Chickadee perched on the topmost 
turret of the castle, watching anxiously for 
Nuthatch. He had sent him word of the 
wedding, and Nuthatch had promised faithfully 
to be there. No one was in sight and Chickadee 
hopped about, standing on his head in his 
impatience. At last, faint and far away, he 
heard Nuthatch calling and flew to meet him, 
crying, “Come-and-see-see-see! Come-and-see- 
see-see!” 

Toward sunset Tree Toad, trilling on the 
protecting bark, saw Mountain Laurel and his 
fairies flying from the distant mountain. Down 
slid Tree Toad to Wood Frog, hiding among 
the fallen brown leaves. “Mountain Laurel is 
coming,” he said. 

Wood Frog called to Red Salamander, gliding 
by: “Mountain Laurel is coming.” 

Salamander ran quickly to the castle gate. 


154 WONDER-OAK 

“Mountain Laurel is coming,” he said to the 
guard. 

A detail of soldiers started to meet Sir Moun- 
tain Laurel, and when he arrived at the castle 
the King stood at the entrance to welcome him. 
A white feathery seed floated down to him as 
he talked with the King, and he looked up to 
see Clematis waving her hand at him from a 
window. 

Again Tree Toad called to Wood Frog. 
“The air is full of white balloons floating from 
the meadow. They are coming this way.” 

Wood Frog looked up, but the branches 
obstructed his view. “Tree Toad says the air 
is full of white balloons,” he said to Salamander. 

Salamander ran out into an ppen space and 
climbed on a slanting rock to look up at the 
sky. He scampered down the rock in a hurry 
and ran fast to the castle gate. “The air is 
full of white balloons,” he shouted to the guard. 
“They came from the meadow.” 

Almost instantly the ground about the castle, 
the bushes and the trees became alive with 
tiny spiders, each floating gently down on a 
silky streamer that had buoyed him through 
the air. They ran about, calling softly, “Lord 
Red Clover is coming — he is on the way.” 


WONDER-OAK 


155 


A company of soldiers went to greet Red 
Clover, and the King received him at the gate. 

“Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!” came a shrill little call 
from above, and a round, rosy face peeped down 
at him. Red Clover blushed pinker than ever 
as he recognized Berry Red. 

Once more Tree Toad trilled to Wood Frog: 
“Cardinal Flower is marching from the brook.” 

“Salamander,” called Wood Frog, “Cardinal 
Flower is marching from the brook.” 

Salamander went for the third time to the 
castle gate. “Cardinal Flower is marching from 
the brook,” he said. 

The soldiers met Cardinal Flower and his 
fairies marching in double-quick time, for Car- 
dinal Flower had spent so much time looking 
at himself in the water that they were late. 

As they saluted the King at the gate Red 
Berry’s anxious little face appeared above them. 
Cardinal Flower saw her, and she smiled, much 
relieved, and blew him a kiss. 

All had now arrived except the Indian 
Fairies, but soon they were seen, threading 
their cautious way through the unfamiliar woods. 
In single file they came, Trillium ahead, very 
splendid in his paint and great headdress, then 
Moccasin Flower, bearing beaded sandals for 


156 WONDER-OAK 

the Pale Princess he had watched in the 
spring. 

The fairies now retired to the castle to put 
on their wedding garments, and the guests 
scattered about the courtyard to rest and re- 
fresh themselves. 

When everyone had gone the White Pine 
Trees growing near the castle leaned far over 
the great open space where the wedding was to 
be and shook themselves violently. Down 
from their outspread arms fell thousands of 
fragrant needles that covered last year’s old 
brown carpet with a beautiful layer of yellow. 
So the Pines brought their gift to Crystal. 

The Hunter’s Moon rose huge in the sky. 
Busybody Bat woke and flew out into the night. 
The Squirrels and Chipmunks took their places 
on the branches, and the air resounded with 
the twitterings of birds, now on their way to 
new homes, but stopping to-night in the fairy 
wood to attend the wedding of the Princess 
Crystal. Tree Toad, Wood Frog, and Red 
Salamander sat close together in the roots of 
a big tree. Mistress Mole came, creeping along 
so softly that Bat could hardly find her to 
escort her to the place the King had reserved 
for her. Soon the fairies appeared, all in their 


WONDER-OAK 


157 


white dresses and settled into their places with 
much chattering and laughter and many friendly 
greetings. 

At last, above the confusion, came the beau- 
tiful note of the Hermit Thrush. Everyone 
became quiet. Again it sounded, and all looked 
toward the castle entrance. 

Guards threw open the great doors. The 
King advanced, leading the Queen and God- 
mother, and followed by the ladies in waiting. 
When they were seated the sweet note came 
again. Jack-in-the-Pulpit marched slowly out 
and took his place beneath a spreading fern, 
now bleached nearly white. At a signal from 
Anemone, all the fairies stood, turning toward 
the castle and singing softly as the wedding 
procession approached. 

Crystal and Grobbo, both in snowy white, 
appeared. The birds in the trees burst into 
song. The fairy chorus swelled in unison. 

Everyone had supposed that the Partridge 
Berry Twins would attend the Princess, and 
there they were, but — they were not walking 
hand-in-hand, but one behind the other! And 
each wore a wedding dress! And each wore a 
bridal veil, while by the side of one walked 
proud Sir Cardinal Flower and with the other 


158 


WONDER-OAK 


came Lord Red Clover! Following was tall 
Clematis, also in bridal array, with sturdy 
Mountain Laurel at her side. Behind marched 
all of Crystal’s playmates. 

The Twins were so very shy and embarrassed 
that they could not raise their eyes from the 
ground, and no one could tell which was which. 
They walked along, not daring to look at any- 
one, even at their bridegrooms. The four 
couples took their places before Jack-in-the 
Pulpit, the music ceased, and the ceremony 
proceeded. 

Crystal and Grobbo were made husband and 
wife and stepped aside to join the King and 
Queen. Clematis and Sir Mountain Laurel 
were also wedded and took their places. All 
the time the Partridge Berry Twins were grow- 
ing more nervous, and when their turn came 
they were trembling so they could hardly stand. 
Red Berry was nearer Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and 
he addressed her companion. 

“Red Clover, do you — ” 

Two loud shrieks interrupted him. 

Everyone looked startled and alarmed. 

“O — O,” screamed Red Berry, “I don’t want 
Red Clover for my husband! Where is Cardinal 
Flower?” 




Berry Red was now clinging to his arm, while Red Berry 
wept on Cardinal Flower’s shoulder 




WONDER-OAK 


159 


“O — O,” cried Berry Red, now looking at 
the nobleman beside her for the first time. 
“Go away! Go away! I won’t marry you! 
I want my Red Clover.’ 5 

Red Clover and Cardinal Flower glared 
angrily at each other. 

“Sir, what do you mean by stealing my 
bride?” demanded Cardinal Flower. 

“It is you who have stolen mine!” replied 
Red Clover, fiercely. 

Berry Red was now clinging to his arm, 
while Red Berry wept on Cardinal Flower’s 
shoulder. 

“Which is which?” demanded the perplexed 
Jack-in-the-Pulpit of Crystal, who had hurried 
to his side. 

“This is Red Berry,” said Crystal, bewil- 
dered, “but why was she not with Cardinal 
Flower?” 

“I was so nervous and so afraid when I thought 
about all the guests that I dared not look at 
anyone, and I did not know who was walking 
with me,” said poor Red Berry. 

“Sister, neither did I,” responded Berry 
Red. 

All was finally arranged and the Partridge 
Berry Twins were at last married to the right 


160 


WONDER-OAK 


husbands. Such a clamor arose among the 
fairies then ! The surprises of the weddings 
were all talked over, and Hermit Thrush had 
to call three times before it became quiet 
enough for Godmother to address them. 

“Dear people/’ she said, “our beloved Prin- 
cess is married to Grobbo, who saved her from 
the caterpillar’s prison. To-night they go to 
their new home in the beautiful White Birch 
Mansion. Her faithful attendants, the Par- 
tridge Berry Twins, have also married the 
fairies of their choice.” (Here everybody 
laughed.) “As they cannot bear to be separated, 
Lord Red Clover and Sir Cardinal Flower have 
decided to build a home together in the great 
Willow Tree by the brook, half of whose branches 
overhang the water, while the rest cast grate- 
ful shade over the meadow. Thus the sisters 
may dwell together, and their husbands rule 
over their own domains. Clematis will leave 
us — to go to a home among the rocky pastures 
on the mountainside with the noble knight, 
Mountain Laurel. 

“You have wondered at the flowers which 
bloom anew in the wood, and at the gentle 
breezes stirring the trees. Trillium, the faith- 
ful friend of our Councilor Grobbo, heard him 


WONDER-OAK 


161 


regretting that his wedding could not take place 
in the summer. So, although Summer was far 
away, Trillium followed and persuaded her to 
return. At his request she brought her treasures 
back for a short time, and this she will do every 
year. In memory of the happy wedding of 
Crystal and Grobbo, there shall be a space in 
the dreary autumn when flowers shall bloom, 
birds shall sing, and warm breezes shall blow 
again. This season shall, in honor of Trillium’s 
wedding gift, be known as Indian Summer! 
This is my decree!” 

In the midst of the applause that followed 
this announcement, Trillium stood silent and 
apparently unmoved, but his dark eyes re- 
sponded to Crystal’s grateful glance. 

Godmother resumed: “You may wonder that 
the Princess has received nothing from me.” 
She turned to the King. “If you remember 
the deeds of your King during the weeks since 
his daughter’s return, I think you will agree 
with me that the best wedding gift of the 
Princess Crystal is her new father. And my 
gift to my godchild is the assurance that this 
new father will never again have the hasty 
temper of other days.” 

The fairies all applauded, for they had grown 


162 


WONDER-OAK 


to love the King. He rose, and stretched out 
his arms to his subjects. 

“I cannot talk,” he said, “but I will live what 
I should like to say!” 

All formality was now ended, and Herb 
Robert, John’s-wort, Cinquefoil, with a corps 
of helpers, brought out great tables piled high 
with nuts and honey, while others served elder- 
berry wine. For a long time they feasted; then 
the migrant birds resumed their Southern jour- 
ney, the Squirrels and Chipmunks scampered to 
their holes, and Mistress Mole departed to her 
burrow. 

The Partridge Berry Twins bade Crystal 
good-night and went with their husbands to 
their new domains. Four of Mountain Laurel’s 
stalwart soldiers carried Clematis in a red-oak 
leaf litter to her mountain home. 

Crystal and Grobbo watched them all out 
of sight. Then their own fairies escorted them 
to the waiting Birch Tree. Hand in hand they 
stood in the doorway, waving good-night to 
the long line of fairies that circled about the 
tree, rising higher and higher, till they vanished 
on the pale moonbeams that slanted through 
the trees. 

Grobbo closed the door, but, all night long, 


WONDER-OAK 


163 


they heard at intervals the song of Busybody 
Bat as he darted happily about in the golden 
branches : 


“Lovely Princess Crystal! 

Grobbo, bold and free! 
Happy ever after 

In the White Birch Tree!” 








PEC 3 1913 


























































































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